Honey bees as important pollinators have long been on everyone's lips. If the harvest in the garden is rather meager, you are probably missing other useful helpers: the wild bees. Their population has declined sharply in recent years. With our tips, you can give the little buggers a home and at the same time benefit from their diligence.
Bees love sunflowers
Cultivate the right plants
If wild bees don't find any food, they won't settle in the first place. Many cultivated roses, tulips, double dahlias and popular flowering shrubs such as forsythia may look beautiful, but they are completely worthless for bees.
A wild bee-friendly garden is characterized by a rich supply of flowers from spring until well into autumn. Very popular with little gourmets:
- blackberry and raspberry,
- Sunflowers,
- catnip,
- phacelia,
- Dandelion,
- bluebell,
- Lavender,
- Sage,
- Thyme,
as well as fruit trees, willows, lime trees and horse chestnuts.
A cozy home
Unfortunately, many wild bee nesting aids don't please the little buzzards at all. For example, these often contain perforated or hollow bricks that are not inhabited by the animals. Holes set too close together and fresh wood are also unsuitable.
You don't necessarily have to offer your little roommates your own "hotel". If you ensure a high level of structural diversity, the animals will find their specific nesting sites on their own. Also leave weeds standing, don't cut everything back in autumn and don't border the edges "cleanly" with stones. Open ground areas with sand or a dry wall also offer natural nesting sites.
attract wild bees
Various attractants are commercially available that are applied to the leaves of plants. However, these only have an effect if the garden has previously been designed to be wild bee-friendly.
Insecticides are taboo
In an insect-friendly garden, it should go without saying that you should garden in harmony with nature and avoid using insecticides. Even if pests temporarily gain the upper hand, you should never use these agents. Over time, a natural balance develops, to which a large number of wild bees also contribute.
tips
Almost all wild bee species benefit from a wildflower meadow. The colorful plants thrive very well in nutrient-poor soil and can therefore decorate a corner of the garden that previously looked rather sparse. You can get a large number of suitable seed mixtures with only native species on the market.