Resin Source

Wild native bees such as Tetragonula carbonaria seem to use collected resin for a variety of purposes inside their hive. These include using resin as a building material (like sticky concrete) but also for defence against pathogens because of the naturally occurring anti-bacterial and anti-fungus properties in some resins. They collect the resin from different sources — Corymbia torelliana being a favourite that I’ve noticed previously. I originally thought that the bees might have been maintaining a hive inside the trunk of this Smudgee tree (Angophera woodsiana). But further observation revealed that they were not always active, especially when hives are normally busy. Instead they appeared to be collecting sap from a wound in the tree (indeed, its possible that the bees are actively maintaining the wound). So its likely that this tree is just a resin source for a hive situated somewhere else.