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Next time you are out in the garden check out your flowering plants, clumps of dried grasses and old holey timber - any insects about may be native bees. Many are very small- the Reed bees and Homalictus bees may be only 3-5mm long. Blue bandeds are thumpers- nearly the size of a Honeybee but much faster. Homalictus urbanus on dandelion flower- these bees carry the pollen internally as do many other Aussie bees Hylaiene bee -Hylaeus honestus preparing a nest while 2 young emerge from old nests in my bee hotel Nomia bees- Lipotriches genus roosting in a mallee gum in the front garden Megachilid Bee- Megachile ferox on garlic chives Orange-browed Resin Bee- Megachile aurifrons, checking out a nest site The best buzz-pollinator in the business- Blue banded Bee-Amegilla sp. on borage Having a spell from all that pollinating- Blue-banded Bee resting on dry grass- it hangs on with its jaws as you can see in this picture!

January and February can be pretty dull in the bush; nothing much is flowering and the heat and dust make the trees and shrubs look grey and desperate. Coming round a corner and seeing Lightwood Wattle in its full glory,beautifully perfumed, ignoring the temperature and the lack of rain is a blessed relief. Lightwood (Acacia implexa) is a now uncommon species found on creeklines and roadsides especially on the Dalyenong/Stuart Mill Rd and around Mt Moliagul. It provides nectar and pollen for many insects and small mammals when there is little else about. A ready germinator and unfussy grower, it should be included in large gardens and revegetation plantings. Two other wattles join Lightwood in a Summer flowering- Spreading Wattle (A genistifolia) and Deane’s Wattle (A. deanei ssp paucijuga). The former is widespread but Deane’s Wattle occurs only on granitic sands- Kooyoora area and Emu.

Anne Hughes takes a select group on a tour of the wonderful Wax Gardens in St Arnaud October 2017. View the brochure for more information.

Current News Bulokes (Allocasuarina luehmannii) are listed under the Victorian Flora and Fauna Guarantee Act 1988 and endangered under the Federal Government Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999. In this district, although there are many stands of Bulokes, most are quite old and very few are regenerating. This is mainly due to grazing pressure from stock on farms as well as rabbits and excessive numbers of kangaroos. I have noticed that many of these trees are suffering from the recent long drought and there is often sever wind damage, possibly due to their age. On my property at Carapooee, there were 28 old Bulokes when it was purchased in 1999. The property is under a Trust for Nature covenant, to protect it in perpetuity. Even though there has been no stock on the property since 1995, there was very little recruitment and seemed to be only from suckering in areas disturbed by erosion. In recent years, however there have been hundreds of seedlings of various ages around all of the female Bulokes as shown below. The only difference that I can see is that the rabbit population has been dramatically reduced by, the drought and constant ripping and fumigating. I would like to see small areas on farms fenced to exclude stock and allow some regeneration.

Proud to launch this program that sees the Wax Garden nearly doubling in size and upgraded to protect endangered plants from excessive browsing from rabbits and wallabies . Please click on the photo to get the full report from Anne.

Recovery and Protection of the depleted iconic Grey Grasstree (Xanthorrhoea glauca ssp angustifolia) 2016-2016 Please click on the photo to view the full report.

Surveys commenced again in late April 2013. The last 3 months of 2012 recorded only 43mm while the first 4 months of the year 2013 recorded only 27mm of rain resulting in complete lack of eucalyptus flowering across a wide area and a failure of various wattle species to flower properly and set seed. Final Report for Permit No: 10006285 Carried out by members of St Arnaud Field Naturalists Club Inc. Location: Stuart Mill Nature Conservation Reserve, centred on Rostron Rd. Period: 30th April 2013- 30th November 2013

Interim Report for Permit No: 10006285 Small Mammal Surveys Using Motion-sensing Infra-red Cameras Carried out by members of St Arnaud Field Naturalists Club Inc. Location: Stuart Mill Nature Conservation Reserve, centred on Rostron Rd. Period: 30th April 2012- 30th November 2012 Records from 1970s indicated that the threatened Squirrel Glider(Petaurus norfolcensis) was still to be found in this area. Subsequent searches by researchers, Dept of Sustainability and Environment, and Parks Victoria staff using spotlighting and hair tubes failed to locate this target species.