The Green carpenter bee, named after its metallic green and gold colouring, is one of the largest solitary native bees found in south-eastern Australia.

These dazzling bees nest in dead wood, which makes them especially vulnerable to bushfires. When their nests burn, adult females may fly away and few live long enough to reproduce again.

After the 2019-20 Black Summer bushfires, the bee vanished from Kangaroo Island and was feared extinct there. Thankfully in 2024, a glimmer of hope emerged: researchers discovered a small population nesting in Banksia trunks within unburnt patches of vegetation.

The discovery was made through the Green Carpenter Bee Conservation Project, which is helping to locate the remaining Green carpenter bees on Kangaroo Island.

Learn more about the Green Carpenter Bee Conservation Project here wheenbeefoundation.org.au/our-work/projects/green-carpenter-bee

To submit a sighting visit wheenbeefoundation.org.au/our-work/projects/green-carpenter-bee/sightings