The Green Carpenter Bee is an iconic and threatened Australian species of bee that exists on Kangaroo Island and also in the Blue Mountains, NSW. Devastating bushfires through 2019/2020 have severely threatened the bees’ remaining habitat and impacted conservation efforts to save the bee.

A project update was provided by Dr Remko Leijs, Dr Katja Hogendoorn & Dr Richard Glatz as part of the Australian Pollinator week webinar series. The webinar explored the history of the Green Carpenter Bee, its complex relationship with fire ecology and the implications for its long term survival.

Dr Glatz explained the distinguishing features of the Green Carpenter Bee, the various fires across our history and sightings of the bee before and after the fires. Dr Leijs explored the journey of learnings as the researchers navigated the path to finding a way to create nesting stalks that the Green Carpenter Bees would actually use. Dr Hogendoorn updated of the before and after effects of the devastating fire on Kangaroo Island last bushfire season. The efforts of these three scientists in conserving the Green Carpenter Bee is commendable.  For further information including the webinar recording, visit: https://www.wheenbeefoundation.org.au/our-work/green-carpenter-bee/