The Sugarbag

The Sugarbag is the adventure story of Jimmy and Max, two young brothers, who are on their way to visit their grandfather. Walking through the bush, they encounter an Australian native stingless bee buzzing around their heads. This gives Jimmy the opportunity to teach little Max all he has learned from his grandfather about hunting for ‘sugarbag’. Sugarbag is the European word for the honey produced by the stingless bee. The boys go racing through the bush in pursuit of the bee hoping it will lead them to its hive. This is Max’s first encounter with hunting for sugarbag and he doesn’t really understand what they are searching for, preferring to imagine some sort of bush treasure trove filled with sweets.

‘Sugarbag is a favourite treat for Aboriginal people. We call it ngarruu. When Grandfather was a little boy, he went hunting for ngarruu with his father,’ Jimmy explained proudly.