Southern Cross Native Bee News
So… you have accessed this page using a native bee sticker QR code. This is the publicity and social awareness part of our student’s integrated STEM Native Bee work. Our students are making native bee hotels and soon we will be 3D printing hives. Very exciting. But… Why care for native bees if they could end up being poisoned. This is a bad problem that can be solved.
African Tulip Trees are toxic to native bees!!! It quickly kills them.
This beautiful tree is common, as it flowers for a long time and has nice green leaves. It is banned in Queensland and the NT but not in NSW.
Currently, it is not on the noxious weed register so local councils don’t have to do anything about them. They will flower for longer and longer as the climate warms, becoming even more dangerous to our precious native bees.
What can you do??? Contact your local council and ask for action. From the NSW Dept of Primary Industries 22/6/23…….. “Local Councils or regional weed committees can undertake Weed Risk Assessments for species they are concerned about and if the risk is high and management option available the regional weed committees can or may adopt a species as a regional priority and include in their regional plan. Not having a species listed on Weedwise does not prevent local councils from implementing a removal plan for species that may present an environmental concern”
Also, you can contact the NSW Minister For Agriculture, Tara Moriaty tara.moriarty@parliament.nsw.gov.au
You can also contact your local member of parliament.
Do something now before more native bees needlessly die!
Update Feb 2024
Email extract from Ballina Shire Council , February 2024.
“ Regarding the African Tulip Tree, which has been a weed under legislation in Qld for some time. As Ballina is not in QLD that QLD weed legislation does not apply to NSW.
Despite this and only recently the species has made it onto the weed list within the North Coast Regional Strategic Weed Management Plan 2023 – 2027. It hasn’t yet made it onto the NSW Biosecurity Act but likely will in the next year or two.
We have already controlled this tree in several bushland settings as an exotic species in natural vegetation communities and we are also aware of the native bee issues associated with it.
Now that the African Tulip Tree is a listed weed in NSW, Council’s Urban Vegetation on Public Land policy allows us to target them from reserves and streetscapes of which there are many large trees planted around our shire. This like camphor laurels and other large tree weed species are undertaken progressively and as resources permit.
Thank you for raising your concerns and should you require any further information please contact me at Council.