5 minute read
Dr Kit Prendergast The Bee Babette
The Bee Babette – Native Bee Queen
By Anthony Kilner
When talking about bees and the environment, our native species seem to get the short end of the stick as far as discussions goes. They are an important part of our country and more work needs to be done to save them. Leading the charge is West Australian based Dr Kit Prendergast – the Native Bee Queen!
Who is Dr Kit Prendergast?
“Dr Kit Prendergast, also known as the Bee Babette, is a native bee scientist and science communicator. After seven years of zoology, conservation biology as well as an arts degree in the mix, an honours project on horse behaviour, and a year of sorting tiny marine invertebrates, and many dead-end PhD proposals, I designed a project that was a winner – studying native bees in the urbanised region of the southwest WA biodiversity hotspot. I’m known for my passion for bees, advocacy for science-based approaches to bee conservation, and rather eccentric personality!”
What attracted you to our Native Aussie Bees?
“Their diversity! I love biodiversity, and so native bees, with their diverse shapes, colours, sizes, behaviours, and ecological roles, fit into this niche. There are so many key ecological questions you can explore by studying native Aussie bees. Plus they’re mega cute!”
What are some of the key concerns about native bees?
“Gosh, unfortunately so many. One is the lack of monitoring and inventorying: in many regions, the native bee assemblages has never even been surveyed. And in regions it has, such surveys are often oneoffs. Very few communities, or species, are being monitored. So for many species we don’t know their population trends.
“Because of this, most native bees are not even provided with any legislative protection - they are ‘data deficient’. Native bees don’t need to be monitored, or impacts to their populations offset, in the wake of habitat destruction.
“The biggest threats to native bees are habitat loss. Livestock farming is a major contributor
to this - so we can all address this through reducing or eliminating meat in our diets. This action can also address another major threat: climate change.
“Land clearing for urban development is another threat, and my research has found that people’s gardens cannot replace native vegetation patches in urban areas as quality habitat.
“Competition with the introduced European honeybee Apis mellifera is also an issue. Sadly most people aren’t even aware that we have native bees, and that it’s these ones that need protecting, not a non-endangered introduced species!”
How can people promote Native Bees in their area?
“People can ensure that native vegetation is retained - this is the most important thing. They should plant high proportions of native, beefriendly flowers, retain big old trees, and make well-designed bee hotels (refer to my book Creating a Haven for Native Bees). They should also leave patches of bare ground for the ground-nesting bees, avoid using pesticides, and not keep the introduced honeybee.”
What resources are out there for people to watch/read about native bees and how to identify them?
“I have a book, Creating a Haven for Native Bees, which has everything you need to know about beefriendly gardening, bee hotel construction, and the best plants for native bees. For how to identify them, I have a guide called A Crash Course in Native Bee Taxonomy. I also have some ‘bee bingo cards’ for each region in Australia for people to try and find eight common species in their region. To obtain any of these, people can send me an email to kitprendergast21@gmail.com “I also have a Facebook group called ‘Bees in the burbs’ that people can join to post photos,
learn more about native bees, and I’ll share research including new publications of mine.
“For those who want to get the cutting-edge science on native bees, they can check out my publications in my
Research Gate Profile.”
Are there any relevant questions I need to ask regarding native bees and their role in the environment?
“Not all native bees are good pollinators, and most don’t make honey. This does not diminish in any way their ‘importance’ - each species is an amazing chance product of evolution, shaped by natural selection, and their loss is irreversible.”
Anthony is available for 1:1 Readings and Bridging Realms Core Issue Vibrational Healing™ sessions.
Image Credit: Kit Prenderghast
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