Fifty-five species of insects visited macadamia flowers in orchards in eastern Australia. Only two species, the social beesApis melliferaL. andTrigona carbonariaSmith, were common. Abundance ofT. carbonaria, but notA. mellifera, was significantly positively correlated with extent of surrounding eucalypt vegetation.A. melliferaandT. carbonariashowed no preference for heavily versus lightly flowering trees. Both bee species, but especiallyT. carbonaria, preferred outer racemes to shaded racemes, possibly reducing the effectiveness of these species as pollinators. Both bee species were present for the major period of macadamia flowering.T. carbonariaforaged for a mean of 7 h a day compared with 10 h forA. mellifera.Both species showed moderate annual variation in abundance at some sites. Four bird species were also observed feeding on macadamia flowers, they may playa role in pollination.