1. Good Organic Gardening - January-February 2016

Danny Summers | GARDENING FOLK
Danny hosts seven honeybee
hives for a friend
Danny grows a great selection of fruit trees and shrubs, including
pomegranate, passionfruit, Brazilian guavas, boysenberries, peaches,
oranges, limes and lemonades, as well as native hibiscus.
Words & photos Sandra Tuszynska
Danny and his wife Carolyn have
lived near Murgon in southeast
Queensland for the past 15
years. Both have a passion for
art; while Carolyn loves to draw and paint,
Danny creates installations for the garden
using recycled materials. He especially loves
to collect old electricity post insulators and
install them as garden décor.
Danny feels sentimental about burning
the 100-year old timber. “It’s too sad to
burn history,” he says. He’s fascinated by
the antique ceramic insulators and says the
workmanship in them is incredible: “They look
as good as new.” He jokes, “I wish I looked as
good at 60 years old.”
For the love of bees
Danny hesitates to admit that bees
are his passion, but he’s a dedicated
member of Valley Bees, a very active and
knowledgeable bee group based in Gympie.
He hosts seven honeybee hives for a friend
and rescues native bee hives. Danny finds
out about selective clearing events and
goes there beforehand to inspect the site
for native bee activity. He then removes any
logs inhabited by the tiny creatures and
takes them home.
Danny doesn’t collect their honey; he
just loves them and likes to use their log
homes as installations for his garden. He
estimates that around 10 resued colonies
now have their homes on his property.
“You need to know when to rescue them,”
he explains. “They increase their activity
when it’s hot. Water is essential for bees and
they’re sensitive to disturbance. Also, if
you leave space for them in the log, the
hive will grow.”
We have about 10 species of native
social bees in the genera Tetragonula
and Austroplebeia.
Danny has also created several bee
blocks for solitary native bees on old
electricity poles with insulators. Plus, he
The filled holes indicate occupation
by native bees
has built a bee wall near his gardens to
provide a nesting habitat for the myriad
solitary bees that live in the area.
He explains, “Different hole sizes are
used by different bee species, which use
different materials for their nests and to
block off their nests, so you can tell which
species of bees are using the sites.”
Many of the holes in the wooden blocks
are filled, a good indication that bees or
other creatures are making use of the
nesting sites. The bee haven Danny has
created seems to be appreciated by the
various pollinators that inhabit his garden.
Good Organic Gardening | 31