Blue banded bees eat nectar and pollen from flowers. Adults drink nectar for energy, and females collect a pollen and nectar mix to feed their young. They are Australian native bees, they live alone rather than in a hive, and they do not make honey.
What adults eat
Adult blue banded bees (Amegilla cingulata) take nectar from many flowers, with a clear preference for blue and purple blooms such as borage, salvia, lavender, and rosemary. They also visit some flowers of other colors, including white salvia, tomato, and eggplant flowers. Native Australian plants are favorites too, including native rosemary (Westringia), grevilleas, bottlebrushes (Callistemon), tea-trees (Leptospermum), and some eucalypts. Planting a mix of flowering herbs and shrubs that bloom through the warm months gives them a steady supply.
What their young eat
Each female digs her own tunnel and builds small cells at the end. She stocks each cell with a mix of pollen and nectar, lays one egg on it, and seals the cell. The larva eats this food store until it is ready to pupate. There is no worker caste and no hive feeding like honey bees.
Buzz pollination
Blue banded bees are known for buzz pollination. The bee grips a flower with its jaws and vibrates its flight muscles, which shakes pollen loose from flowers that hold it tightly, such as tomatoes, eggplants, and native Australian flowers. Honey bees cannot do this. That makes blue banded bees valuable to home gardeners and greenhouse growers.
How to help them in your garden
- Plant nectar-rich flowers in blue and purple shades, plus herbs such as lavender, rosemary, and borage.
- Leave patches of bare, firm soil or clay banks, or a block of soft sandstone, where females can dig nest tunnels.
- Leave some plant stems standing. Males often rest overnight by gripping a stem with their jaws.
- Offer a shallow water dish with stones to land on.
- Skip pesticides, especially on flowers that are in bloom.
Are they dangerous?
Blue banded bees can sting, but they are not aggressive and rarely do unless handled. Anyone with a bee allergy should still be careful around any bee.
Related guides
Bottom Line
Blue banded bees live on flower nectar and pollen. Give them plenty of blue and purple flowers, bare soil to nest in, and no pesticides, and they will reward you with better pollination for your garden.
