An Aussie Bee Scrum

After we had cut down a hoop pine it bled with this white sap. It looked like the ants were having a feast day, but in fact these insects are tiny native Australian honey bees. They are stingless and there are over 1500 species. These are having a hard time collecting the sap as it is sticky and their feet keep getting stuck.  In a complicated series of rugby moves they roll up a small ball of sap in their mandibles, first pulling it up like strings of chewing gum. Then they rotate it around and pass it under their tummies to the panniers on their back legs. Each one tries to leave with full panniers but if they succumb to the gum another, more canny, bee can nip in and poach the ball and make a try for the hive before the conversion to honey. Or maybe it is used for cell construction.