Buzzing Into Biodiversity Month: Why Citizen Science Matters

September is the official start of Spring here in the Southern Hemisphere. The air feels warmer, Australia's national floral emblem, the Golden Wattle bursts into bloom, and the hum of insects starts to return.  For beekeepers like me, Spring marks the shift from survival to expansion mode for my honey bees (Apis mellifera).  My hives are buzzing on sunny days, queens are starting to lay, and nectar flows are on their way.  It’s a busy time of year!

But let’s not forget - bees aren’t the only pollinators waking up.  Butterflies, flies, beetles, wasps, and even bats start to get busy at this time of year.  And while I’m super excited to hear the hum of my honey bees, I’m equally excited to see the revival of all creatures - right down to the big, hairy huntsman spiders that like to surprise us in our tiny home on the farm.

Buzzing into Spring - it's a busy time for the bees and beekeepers like me!

Bee for Biodiversity

Most people know that bees are champion pollinators.  When a bee flits from flower to flower, it spreads pollen that helps plants produce seeds and fruit tissue. By carrying out this all important taxi service, bees are a vector of pollination - allowing plants that are fixed in one spot to spread their genes and make more of themselves. That means more food, more shelter, and more habitats for countless living things. Bees = Biodiversity.

Bees are keystone species - they play a critical role in holding an ecosystem together.  Without them, biodiversity would collapse.  With them, life flourishes.  It’s not just about food for humans (though we can thank them for apples, almonds, pumpkins, and many, many more).  It’s about creating the rich, interconnected food web that sustains all living things.

The bees have been busy pollinating my apple trees!

September = Biodiversity Month

September isn’t just Spring - it’s also Biodiversity Month, a time to celebrate and reflect on the incredible variety of life around us.

Australia is one of the world’s 17 “megadiverse” countries. Together, these countries make up less than 10% of the Earth’s area but host over 70% of global biodiversity.  What’s even more special is that so many of our plants and animals are found nowhere else on Earth.  From cute kolas to some of the world’s deadliest snakes - they have called only Australia home for millions of years!

That’s both an incredible gift and a serious responsibility. Biodiversity gives us clean air, fresh water, food, medicine, and inspiration.  But it also needs us - our care, protection, and action. Biodiversity Month is the perfect reminder to strengthen our connection to nature and to choose actions that help create a thriving future for the species we share this planet with.

The Power of Citizen Science

A few years ago, I had the pleasure of writing the Parks Victoria Citizen Science Tool Kit. Working with Park Rangers and Scientists who dedicate they careers to looking after nature, I helped create a resource to guide everyday people in using tools like iNaturalist to record and protect biodiversity.

And here’s the thing: you don’t need to be a scientist to do science. Citizen Science is about people like you and me observing, recording, and sharing information about the natural world.  Every photo of a butterfly, every bird or frog call recorded, every insect identified contributes valuable data that helps scientists and land managers protect ecosystems.

Since writing the toolkit, I’ve organised bioblitz events, run workshops for teachers and students, and spent countless hours on our conservation farm recording the rich biodiversity.  Each observation feels like adding one more piece to the big picture of how our ecosystems work - and how we can protect them.

The world’s most popular citizen science app right now is iNaturalist 

How You Can Get Involved

This September, why not make a pledge to do something for biodiversity? You could:

• 🌱 Join a BioBlitz in your area.

• 📸 Use iNaturalist or other apps to record species you spot.

• 🎧 Listen to a podcast or watch a documentary about biodiversity.

• 🦋 Plant pollinator-friendly species in your backyard.

• 🐝 Share your love of nature with friends, family, or your students by starting a conversation

  
  

The more we know, the more we care. And the more we care, the more likely we are to protect.

Join Me at the Caulfield Park BioBlitz!

To celebrate Biodiversity Month, I’m thrilled to be hosting a Caulfield Park BioBlitz - a hands-on event where we’ll discover and record the incredible variety of life in one of Melbourne’s most loved green spaces.

📅 Date: Saturday 20th September

⏰ Time: 10:00 am – 12:30 pm 

📍 Venue: Caulfield Park Pavilion, 280 Balaclava Rd, Caulfield North VIC 

🔗 Register here: Caulfield Park BioBlitz

Bring your curiosity, your love of nature, and download the iNaturalist App. 

Want to Learn More About Biodiversity & Citizen Science? Incursions & Workshops

If you love this kind of stuff as much as I do, I run workshops and incursions all about:

• Bees

• Biodiversity

• Pollination

• Citizen Science

  
  

Whether you're a school, community group, or curious nature lover - come and explore the unexpected stories of the natural world with me.

Plants That Eat Insects?! The Weird and Wonderful World of Carnivorous Plants

When I talk about who eats who in the natural world, the food web always grabs attention - especially with kids! One of my favourite moments during my biodiversity workshops is seeing their eyes widen and curiosity take flight when I reveal the apex predator on our farm: the mighty wedge-tailed eagle. Majestic, powerful, and soaring high above it all.

But the real action? It is happening down at ground level, where the wild world of hunting and munching plays out on a tiny scale. Every living thing needs to eat to survive - some nibble on leaves, others munch and crunch on other creatures and some, like the wedge tailed eagles even work together in groups to bring down larger prey. 

But what about plants? We usually think of them as passive, peaceful, green things.  They soak up sunshine, grow quietly, produce pretty flowers.... they definitely don’t have fangs or a taste for flesh… ...or do they?

The food web on our farm - who eats who of the natural world!

The Weird and Wonderful World of Carnivorous Plants

Yep, some plants eat animals - usually insects, and they’ve developed amazing ways to do it.

These are known as carnivorous plants, and they’ve evolved to grow in nutrient-poor environments. When they can’t get enough food from their roots, they supplement their diet by trapping and digesting unsuspecting bugs. 

Most people immediately think of the Venus flytrap - with its toothy snap and bug-catching speed. But there is a huge biodiversity of insect-munching flora out there…

Pitcher Plants, Borneo, and Rat Tales

Years ago, I traveled to Borneo and trekked up Mt. Kinabalu.  It was a AWESOME trip full of nature. One of my most vivid memories were the pitcher plants I spotted along the way - deep, colorful cups of digestive doom for insects (and maybe more?).  A local guide told me some species could digest small rodents like rats. Truth or legend? I’m not entirely sure. But this is when the world of carnivorous plants captured my imagination!

Charles Darwin’s Favourite Plant?

You may know Darwin for his book "The Origin of Species," but did you know he was also obsessed with carnivorous plants? His favourite? Drosera - better known as sundew. He was so enchanted by these sticky little wonders that he wrote:

"I care more about Drosera than the origin of all the species in the world."

Darwin spent years experimenting on Drosera rotundifolia, proving that these sparkling, delicate-looking plants were actually cunning insect hunters.

Surprise! Sundews on My Farm

Over the years I experimented with keeping carnivorous plants - Venus flytraps, pitcher plants and others have graced my windowsills.  But I recently had a surprise discovery on my farm.

Tucked away among the moss and native grasses was a dazzling cluster of Drosera aberrans, also known as the scented sundew.

Yes - a native carnivorous plant, right under my nose, in the wild!  Soo exciting!

An exciting find - Drosera aberrans on our Farm

So How Do They Work?

The Drosera genus (sundews) is one of the largest groups of carnivorous plants, with around 194 species.

They don’t snap or suck like other carnivorous plants - instead, their leaves are covered in sticky, glistening glands that look like dewdrops in the sun. But beware - these drops aren’t water. They’re mucilage, a glue-like substance that traps insects. Once an insect lands, the leaf slowly curls around it and starts to digest it. Delicate and deadly.

These plants usually live in clusters, forming colonies, which helps them thrive in challenging environments with poor soil nutrition.

But… Do They Eat Their Pollinators?

Now this got me thinking about pollination - how do carnivorous plants get pollinated if they eat insects?

Wouldn’t they be munching on the very insects they need to reproduce?

There are lots of variations, but it turns out that many sundew species have evolved clever adaptations. Some grow their flowers on long stalks, far away from their sticky traps - essentially keeping their pollinators safe from becoming dinner.

The ones I found haven’t flowered yet, but I’ll be keeping a close eye on them this spring to see what unfolds!

Want to Learn More About Nature’s Wild Side? Incursions & Workshops

If you love this kind of stuff as much as I do, I run workshops and incursions all about:

• Bees

• Biodiversity

• Pollination

• Citizen Science

• And the weird, wonderful, and sometimes bloodthirsty world of plants and animals

  
  

Whether you're a school, community group, or curious nature lover - come and explore the unexpected stories of the natural world with me. Because let’s be honest - plants that eat insects?  That’s the kind of thing kids (and adults) never forget.

Friends with Honey - Primary School Bee Incursion

Biodiversity: The Wild World of Reproduction in Antechinus & Honey Bees

Reproduction in nature is wild, weird, and absolutely fascinating!

As a beekeeper, I’m naturally obsessed with pollination and the incredible connection between flowers and their pollinators that has evolved over millions of years.  But recently, a different little critter caught my attention at our biodiversity farm.  We’ve set up video cameras around the property to capture the comings and goings of local wildlife.  It’s a fantastic way to get a behind the scenes glimpse, especially of what the nocturnal creatures get up to while we’re fast asleep.  One evening, while reviewing the footage, I thought I’d spotted a mouse... but something didn’t quite add up.  The pointy snout, the distinctive white ring around its eyes - and importantly, the fact that it wasn’t in the plague proportions of mice - made me look again. That’s when I realised I’d stumbled across something far more exciting: an Antechinus!

This small, insect-munching marsupial is native to Australia and belongs to the same family as the iconic Tasmanian devil.  But what truly makes the Antechinus stand out isn’t just its nocturnal habits or appetite for spiders and centipedes -  it’s the mind-blowing reproductive strategy of this marsupial shrew.

The Ultimate Mating Marathon

Male Antechinus live fast and die young - literally.  Each winter, they embark on a two-week mating frenzy.  Think non-stop action, sometimes for up to 12 hours!  But here’s the downer: they die after mating.

This dramatic end is due to a spike in cortisol (the stress hormone), which shuts down their immune system and causes a total bodily collapse. One day they’re out there giving it their all… the next, they’re found peacefully expired (just like this one that I found in our shed), with no injuries - just nature running its course.  Sad? A bit. But also kind of impressive. They live just long enough to pass on their genes - and go out with a bang!

This one-time, high-stakes reproductive strategy is called semelparity, or "suicidal reproduction." It’s rare in mammals but perfectly normal for Antechinus.

Antechinus live fast and die young!

Honey Drone Bees: The Royal Treatment (until it gets cold!)

Of course, all this got me thinking about my favourite boys in the animal kingdom: honey drone bees. Their story is equally jaw-dropping.

Like Antechinus males, drone bees are single-minded when it comes to mating. Their only job is to fly out during the warm spring and summer months in search of a queen from another colony. When a lucky drone succeeds, he mates mid-air during her nuptial flight… and dies immediately after.  Why? Because the act of mating literally causes his endophallus or penis to explode - yes, explode - inside the queen. Nature is nothing if not dramatic!!

But unlike the Antechinus, not all drones get the chance to mate. The unsuccessful ones spend their days lounging in the hive, getting fed by the tireless female worker bees. Sounds like a sweet deal… until autumn hits.  With food supplies tightening, the workers stop the royal pampering treatment and kick the drones out - leaving them to perish in the cold.

The unsuccessful drone bees spend their days lounging in the hive, getting fed by the tireless female worker bees.

Semelparity vs. Iteroparity: Biodiversity is everything.

While male Antechinus and drones might seem similar, there’s an important difference in their species’ overall reproductive strategy.

• Antechinus: semelparous. The males breed once and die. Females rear the young alone.

• Honey bees: iteroparous. The queen mates once (with multiple drones), but then stores the sperm and continues laying eggs (sometimes for years), keeping the colony thriving.

  
  

It’s a reminder that even in the insects and mammals, diversity is everything - not just in species, but in reproductive strategy.

Nature’s Lessons: Incursions - From our Farm to your Classroom

Here on our biodiversity farm, I’m constantly amazed by nature - and I love sharing these stories with others. Whether it's the mating marathon of the Antechinus or the aerial acrobatics of bee mating, there’s a powerful lesson in every creature’s lifecycle.

If your school, library, or community centre is looking for an educational and entertaining incursion that blends science, storytelling, and the wonderful world of pollinators, I’d love to bring the buzz your way!  Our Friends with Honey incursion programs are designed to inspire curiosity, connect kids with nature, and celebrate biodiversity in all its fascinating glory.

🐝 Get in touch to learn more or book your incursion

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