Passport to Recovery:

Combining technology with bee hotels to monitor native bee's on Kangaroo Island!

01 / 07

Native bees are important pollinators just like the European honeybee. Unlike honeybees, most native bees do not live in hives, but instead make their nests in holes in wood or in the ground.

Australia has over 1600 species of native bees. With many more species unknown to science!

The summer of 2019-20 saw unprecedented bushfire events across Australia. Kangaroo Island was seriously impacted, with almost half of the island burnt (DEW 2020).

There were fears after the bushfires that the endangered native Green carpenter bee (Xylocopa aerata) did not not survive as their food and shelter vegetation (banksia and yacca) was severely impacted by the fires.

Thankfully, surveys post-fire have found some individuals and it is important to assist in their survival while native vegetation recovers.

SmartNest is a technology twist on the traditional bee hotel, by incorporating lasers into the nesting entrances that track movement patterns of the nest occupants.

Custom nest tubes also allow for the collection of pollen samples for analysis of native vegetation or crops visited by native bees.

Passport to Recovery is a citizen science program aimed at getting visitors and locals involved in the post bushfire monitoring of Kangaroo Island.

The Passport to Recovery SmartNest project collects data on behaviour and plant choice of native pollinators on KI.

Below is a map of SmartNest locations where citizen scientists can visit to assess the nesting status of each of the pollen tubes.

SmartNest locations

Keep checking back in on the map for the installation of more SmartNests and updates from our dedicated citizen scientists!