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Whilst most weather webcams show the sky or horizon, this is a weather webcam with a twist. Below is a LIVE stream from a hive of the Australian native stingless bee species, Tetragonula carbonaria (Tc). The foraging habits of these fascinating little guys (girls mainly) depends on three things, the time of day, the ambient temperature and whether it's raining or not. Although not your typical weather webcam, this native bee webcam has been added as a bit of fun. Requires Microsoft Silverlight
Don't have Silverlight? Try the version. (opens in a Pop-up window)
** Camera only operates during daylight hours **

It's early afternoon at the hive and it's 32.3°C. It's not raining at the moment.
(These are ideal conditions for laying, foraging, cleaning and defending)
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These tiny, industrious, little black bees have no sting and are harmless. Not only do they pollinate our native plants, they are also great pollinators of non-natives like fruit trees and veggies. This hive is near our veggie garden and under a patio cover out of any direct weather.

Information about Australian Native Stingless Bees

• There are over 1600 species of native bees in Australia and most are solitary bees. There are only 10 species of social native bees which live in hives, make honey and are stingless. • In Australia, they are found mainly in warm areas in the northern and eastern parts of the country.

• Each hive has a queen, drones and thousands of sterile workers.

• In their natural environment, this species builds nests in tree cavities and hollow logs. In urban areas they have been found in old machinery, retaining walls, large pot plants and they seem particularly fond of water meter boxes.

• These bees will travel up to 500 meters but prefer to forage within about 100m of their hive. By contrast, honeybees will forage out to around 5km.

• Often caled 'Sugarbag' honey, Australian stingless bees only store about 1 kg of honey per year in their hives. In comparison, a hive of European honeybees can produce around 70 to 100 kg of honey.

• 'Sugarbag' honey has the consistency of maple syrup and has a distinctive bush taste - sweet and sour and tangy with a hint of citrus. The taste comes from plant resins which the bees use to build their hives and honey pots. It's pretty good on ice cream.