When most people think about bees, they think about the European honey bees or Western honey bees (Apis mellifera), that produce the delicious honey sold in our local supermarkets. This species of honey bee originally came from areas of Europe, western Asia and Africa. However, commercial hives of this bee have now been introduced to most parts of the world.

But there are thousands of other native bee species around the world. According to 'Bees of the World' by C O'Toole and A Raw, there are at least 25,000 described bee species worldwide, far more than the number of bird species (8,600) or mammal species (3,500). They are found in cold Arctic areas, in the high Himalayas, in semi-deserts and in warm temperate forests.

Many native bees are tiny -- looking like a cloud of minute specks hovering around the flowers. The biggest bee in the world, Chalicodoma pluto, from the Moluccan island of Bacan, is up to 39 mm long and has a wingspan of 63 mm. Native bees can be black, yellow, red or metallic green. The cuckoo bee, Thyreus, is black with blue polka dots!

Some native bee species have been domesticated for crop pollination. Examples include the leafcutter bees and the mason bees. The stingless social native bees are kept for honey production in tropical parts of the world.

Australia has over 1,500 species of native bees. Ten of these species (Trigona and Austroplebeia) are the social native bees which live in large social colonies and have no sting. Most of the remaining species are solitary native bees which live in individual holes in the ground or in timber and do have a sting. Leafcutter bees, blue banded bees and resin bees are examples of Australian solitary native bees.

Native bees are vital parts of the ecosystem throughout the world and are vital pollinators of our native plants.