What’s the Buzz in Finance?

At Annette Tothill Finance, we’re passionate about keeping up with the latest in finance and sharing our knowledge with you. But being a proud South Australian company, we’re also passionate about the environment we live in and protecting our endangered native species.

So, to bring you expert financial tips along with spreading awareness about the environment, we’re excited to introduce you to the newest member of the Annette Tothill Finance team, Budget Bee!

Who is Budget Bee?

He’s a blue-banded native bee named because of the striking turquoise bands that run across his abdomen, and he’s a hard-working member in many Australian ecosystems.
And each month, he’ll be working hard to bring you the latest tips, tricks, and developments in finance, budgeting, and environmental sustainability news.

What’s so special about blue-banded bees?

Blue-banded bees are clever little guys. Why? Because they have a special method of extracting pollen from many important plants called “buzz pollination”, something that the more common European Honeybees can’t do.
It’s a nifty trick that involves using their wings to shake the pollen out of flowers with vibration, or “buzz”. Quite simply, without buzz pollination, we wouldn’t have tomatoes, basil, chilli, or lavender plants.
And here’s an interesting fact you may not know. Many commercial tomato growers have to manually reproduce the buzz pollination method of blue-banded bees to produce fruit when their crops are grown in glasshouses.
And while female blue-banded bees are notoriously solitary, the males build their nests near each other – much like a village.

So as you can see, these Australian native bees are essential to our environment but are currently under threat of extinction due to being easy prey for birds and frogs and the clearing of their natural habitats.

What can I do to help the bees?

If you’re interested in helping the declining blue-banded bee population, here are a few things that you can do to help.
– Spread the word! Awareness is a big issue.
– Plant a bee-friendly garden. A good variety of flowering plants that blossom all year round helps bees live. One plant they love is the Abelia shrub!
– Avoid insecticides. If you must use one, consider an insecticide with low toxicity for bees.
– Consider supporting one of these groups:

• The Wheen Bee Foundation
• Bee The Cure
• The Australian Native Bee Research Centre

Where can I find out more from Budget Bee?

Stay tuned!
Each month, Budget Bee will bring you fantastic tips about preparing a budget, simple rules for sticking to it, debt consolidation, and how and when to reward yourself for good budgeting habits.
And if you have children who don’t yet understand good budgeting and saving habits, Budget Bee will be a great learning tool for them too.

Check out his brand-new Facebook page to hear more from Annette Tothill Finance’s exciting new friend.
But in the meantime, keep your eyes open for blue-banded bees next time you’re out in your garden, and if you do happen to see one, we’d love for you to share a picture or video with us.