This article is a summary of the podcast conversation “29. What Bees Teach Us About Seasons, Place and Collective Action”. Listen to the full episode on Spotify podcasts or Apple podcasts, and go here for the relevant links mentioned in the podcast. Read on for the summarised topics from the episode.

What Bees Teach Us About Seasons, Place and Collective Action

While we rush through our days, bees remind us that life works best when it follows nature’s pace. These mighty insects show us what it means to live in harmony and to work in tune with the seasons. Their survival depends on connection to each other, to plants, and to place.

In this episode, I’d love you to meet Anna Scobie and Kelly Lees from Newcastle based business Urban Hum. We’re exploring the role of bees in our local environment and how understanding them connects us with the bigger picture of environmental sustainability. From permaculture principles to planting a tiny forest, and even facing the challenges of varroa mite, we’ll talk about what it means to respond with care and curiosity.

This episode is a reminder that living sustainably isn’t just about action — it’s about rhythm. It’s about learning from nature, working with the seasons and staying open to what some of the smallest creatures can teach us about a more connected and resilient future.

Overview of the Conversation

Promoting biodiversity on their acre block – after the Varroa Mite bee eradication in 2022, they started a tiny forest on their one acre block where the hives used to be “it just put this spark in our heads that we could make that happen”
Developing an interest in native bees after the Varroa mite eradication
Impact of mass bee loss to biodiversity, as honey bees are prominent pollinators
How bees help us notice seasonal changes

Planting Day in the Urban Hum Tiny Forest

The journey of Kelly’s Saskia Beer Churchill Fellowship to study ectoparasitic mites of honey bees – bring back local honey varieties, each distinct from the sweetness of Australian honey “So it also just goes to show how bees are very connected to the places that they live”

The role of honey in a natural bee hive “European honeybees are making honey for the winter that’s never coming [in temperate Australia] so that’s why we can take so much honey…”
A storyteller explanation of the habitat, lifestyle and lifespan of honey bees and native bees

One year growth of the Urban Hum Tiny Forest

The likeness of people thriving when working together, similar to bees in a hive or trees in a tiny forest.

Kelly and Anna’s tips for creating biodiversity in your backyard…

✓ Observe… take some time in your environment, whether it’s in your backyard or the park. Watch which creatures are already there. Because there’s often this whole world going on that we’re not noticing. And once you do key into that, you then have this whole sense of wonder. And so that when you are doing these little actions, you have that sense of purpose (Kelly)

✓ Find out what’s endemic to your local area… and also what’s going to attract pollinators and create a diverse habitat for a range of different creatures – not just butterflies, not just pollinators, but also for lizards and amphibians and other things. And it doesn’t have to be huge. You can do amazing things just in a very small space to bring biodiversity into your life. (Anna)

This episode of The ReNewy Living Podcast was recorded on Awabakal country. I wish to acknowledge the traditional owners of the land and waters in the Newcastle and Lake Macquarie region of New South Wales.

I hope you’re feeling more confident about doing better for our people and planet by taking a start where you live approach to living sustainably. If this episode has spurred you into action, please feel free to share the episode with your friends. It would mean the world to me!

Listen into the stories and voices of this story here at Spotify podcasts and here at Apple Podcasts… And you can also sign up to my regular emails here… I look forward to sharing more stories with you next time.

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