That’s worrying. Real implications for food supply if bees drop in number. I saw something about some fungus that could help eradicate varroa in hives?

Also could it help to support native/other pollinators to try and get their numbers going? I know that basic places like Big W sell ‘bee and butterfly’ seed packets, but also places like Bunnings sell native wildflower seed mixes that might be a better choice.

My health and mobility don’t lend themselves well to guerrilla gardening these days but you can make ‘seed bombs’ to throw into abandoned lots by many methods. Such as filling eggshells with seeds and potting mix and pasting tissue paper over the hole to contain the contents, embedding seeds in balls of recycled paper pulp, or creating seeded soil balls with clay powder/ground bentonite clay cat litter as a binder.

Obviously I am not an actual conservationist and this may not be good advice. If you decide to go ahead do the research, check laws, ask someone who actually knows. Also don’t do it on someone else’s property, don’t use any invasive or poisonous plants, and don’t do it in nature reserves.

Another idea is bug hotels. Also sold at standard places like Big W or Bunnings (I think.) However I have seen articles saying that the pre-made ones aren’t good, that the diameters of the holes are not suitable for bees/pollinators? Some info about pollinator houses.

There was a citizen science project to count pollinators but unfortunately it’s finished now.

I found something more official. The information here is copious and out of date by now (I assume the poisoning has stopped) but if you skip to the very bottom there is info about identification of native bees, rescue and making bee hotels. https://www.aussiebee.com.au/varroa-mite-crisis.html Annoyingly it won’t let me just link to that whole category.