With these tips you will become a beekeeper:
The following are tips and measures on how to become a bee protector with small measures. Check out these tips:
- Flower dream instead of stone desert
- Bee-friendly plants
- Bee-friendly climbing plants
- Bee-friendly perennials
- Bee-friendly ground cover
- Bee-friendly trees and shrubs
- Bee-friendly onion flowers
- Bee-friendly crops
- Bee-friendly herbs
- Flowers at any time of the year
- Space in the smallest space - the bee-friendly balcony
- Bees are also thirsty
- No chemistry in the garden
- Give bees a home
- Natural corners for wild bees
- Engage yourself
- Do good and talk about it
We welcome every small contribution to the protection of our little winged friends and to the preservation of biodiversity.
Each individual can already make a huge contribution to the protection of bees and thus make a big difference to a healthy environment and a species-rich ecosystem. Every small contribution is just as important as big political decisions, to which we are often powerless and helpless.
Wild bees and honeybees need our help, because we have taken a large part of your habitats from you through intensive agricultural use, soil sealing and monocultures. It is important that we give back some of this to the bees. But it's not just bees that benefit from your help. Other insects such as .B. bumblebees, moths, beetles and butterflies also benefit from your support.
Flower dream, instead of stone desert:
Whether balcony, terrace or garden – every bee-friendly plant offers our bees a valuable source of pollen and nectar. Unfortunately, one sees more and more grey, boring rockeries, which are just not supposed to do work. Balconies and terraces are also often planted with plants that bring some colour to the home, but are unsuitable as a food source for bees. Bee-friendly plants make an important contribution to nature conservation and provide bees with important food sources. Even a bee-friendly planted balcony, even a single lavender in the top or a terrace full of bee pastures supports the bees in their search for food.
There are many flowering plants that are easy to care for and do almost no work. In addition, you should not forget that a garden not only serves as a food source for bees and other insects, but also ensures that stress hormones are broken down in humans. A beautiful garden not only looks better, it also makes you happier. Keep in mind: Bees mean life, because they pollinate about 80% of our crops.
Of course, no one wants to tell you how to design your garden or balcony and which plants to plant. However, there are plants that look pretty but have no use for bees and other pollinators. Avoid, for example, filled flowering varieties, such as .B geraniums. These don't give bees food. The same applies to Forsythia, as well as some dahlias and rose species. Instead of English lawns, you should leave corners for wildflowers. This also makes much less work in care. Pay attention to diversity and native plants.
Bee-friendly plants
Bee-friendly plants are characterized by two main characteristics: they have a high content of nectar and/or pollen or have a long flowering time. They have unfilled and wide-open flowers, making both nectar and pollen easily accessible to bees.
Take care of roses, for example: Wild roses each have five openly unfolded petals and thus clearly visible dust bags containing the pollen. Breeding roses, on the other hand, are usually filled, i.e. the numerous petals are so close together that the bees have no chance of getting to the food inside. This is pretty, but by no means bee-friendly. In DIY stores and nurseries, therefore, care should be taken to select only flowering plants where bees can be seen.
For the bees in Germany, the representatives of the following plant families are especially important:
- Rose Family (Rosaceae)
- Rough leaf family (Boraginaceae)
- Korbblütler (Asteraceae)
- Lipflower (Lamiaceae)
- Doll (Apiaceae)
- Pods (Fabaceae) and their subfamily, the butterfly-flowers (Faboideae)
Of course, not all bee-friendly plants are equally suitable for all bees. Many bee species, especially wild bees, are very specialized in terms of their food sources. Honeybees, on the other hand, can hardly be described as picky. With bee-friendly plants, you support not only bees, but also other pollinating insects such as bumblebees, hoverflies, beetles or butterflies.
Bee-friendly climbing plants
If you have little space, you can also use climbing plants. Flowering climbing plants are not only very bee-friendly plants because they provide food to the animals, they also provide them with safe shelter and protection. Very attractive for bees are:
- Alpine forest vine
- Blue Rain
- Broad-leaved sandy pea
- Climbing-Hortensie
- Creep rose
If you want to use climbing plants for greening the house and facade, you can use the classics Ivy and Wild Wine with a clear conscience: they are both valuable and persistent bee pastures.
When creating a flower meadow, care must be taken to ensure the right seed. Many wildflower mixtures attract only honeybees, so regional seed mixtures from local stands are recommended (www.NABU.de/saatgut). Even those who prefer only lawns can use flower bulbs to set splashes of colour and create a food offer (e.g. .B crocuses, snowdrops, tulips). Wildflower meadows should also only be mowed twice a year after the plants have already been planted.
Bee-friendly perennials:
Perennials are perennials of flowers perennial – they support bees in the long run. Further advantages of perennials are that they are suitable for both sunny and shady locations and can often be cultivated in the balcony pot as well as in the bed. In addition, their flowering times vary, so that they can be used throughout the garden season for a bee-friendly planting.
Bee-friendly perennials are:
- Bushmalve
- Forest stork bill
- High fat hen
- Red sham sun hat
- Women's shoe
- Aster
- Purple bells
- The Blue Nettle
- Bullet thistle
Bee-friendly ground cover:
Ground cover does little work and is very easy to care for. Some of the flowering species and varieties are also important bee pastures. Phlox, for example, already forms true flower carpets in early summer, which attract bees in droves. A real bee magnet in my garden is the thyme. Since it tolerates dryness well, you don't have to care for it big and it smells wonderful. Also on the terrace in the pot it looks beautiful and is not care intensive. Bees love thyme. Other recommended ground covers with a good food supply for bees are beinwell, carpet hard bar and carpet bellflower.
Bee-friendly trees and shrubs:
Trees such as trees and shrubs are very important for bees, because they have the highest food supply. At the same time, they are a win for every garden, are visual protection, shade dispensers, flower and often fruit suppliers in one. From a bee's point of view, barberry, boar ash, pfaffenhütchen or the Woolly Snowball are particularly suitable for near-natural hedge plantings. It doesn't always have to be the boring and not very useful cherry laurel.
Bee-friendly trees are, of course, the fruit trees such as apple, pear, mirabelle or cherry tree. But also large trees such as the lime tree, chestnut as well as various maple species are highly valued by bees. Especially mountain maple, field maple and pointed maple, which already has its heyday from April to May, are very popular with bees. Other important woods for bees are the rock pear, willow, cornel cherry, as well as grape elder.
There is even a tree for which the bee is named, the bee tree, which blooms overly from summer to autumn. Originally based in China and Korea, beekeepers plant it because it is so popular with bees and provides them with generous food. The bee tree is also called a thousand-flower shrub or honey ash because of its countless flowers.
Berry shrubs such as strawberry, blackberry or raspberry are particularly bee-friendly, as are the sluice as well as, of course, wild roses, rose hip roses and the summer-flowering apple rose.
Tip: The bee-friendly trees and shrubs can also be planted in a bee-friendly way. We recommend Sterndolde, Winterling or Yellow Fingerhat. Onion flowers such as snowdrops, tulips or grape hyacinths also look beautiful under apple tree and co.
Bee-friendly onion flowers:
Already in autumn think of the bees: Onion flowers provide bees with food at a time when other plants are not yet in bloom. Therefore, they are particularly important food suppliers. Recommended bee-friendly onion flowers are:
- Winterlings
- Snowdrops
- Crocuses
- Grape hyacinths
- Blue-beldored
- Muguet
- March enamenbecher
- Scilla
- Woodruff
- Tulips
Bee-friendly crops
A farm garden can also be a bee paradise. In the vegetable bed or in the herb garden, many bee-friendly plants can be accommodated, on whose flowers the bees feast, while we then look forward to the harvest later. Legumes such as lentils, peas and beans are popular with bees. Pumpkin plants such as cucumber, melon, zucchini or even pumpkin also attract the insects in large flocks.
Bee-friendly herbs are:
- Melissa
- Real sage
- Thyme
- Anise
- Parsley
- Chives
- Mountain savory
- Basil
- Lavender
Other popular plants in the farm garden are:
- Artichoke
- Chicory
- Tomato
- Potato
- Eggplant
- Mustard
Flowers at any time of the year:
Bees need enough nectar and pollen throughout the year to .B. raise your offspring. Pay attention to flowering time during planting and plant early, medium and late flowering species. This gives you a beautiful sight all year round and offers the bees a bee-friendly terrain throughout.
During the year, there are phases in which the bee needs food, but pollen and nectar are only marginally available. For example, the queen bee begins to breed before the flowering time of the fruit trees, i.e. a lot of pollen is needed as food for the offspring. Towards the end of the year, the flowering time of a variety of plants also tends. But the bees still need nectar to replenish their supplies for the winter. There are very beautiful plants, which also conjure up great splashes of colour in the garden in autumn. It is .B beautiful to see when dozens of bees cover themselves with nectar and pollen on a beardflower in October.
In addition, native plants such as wild perennials are primarily used, which are adapted to the needs of the native animal and insect world. But that doesn't mean you have to do without exotics! Many of them are excellent bee pastures and often fill exactly the gaps in the flowering period that arise when the native species have already bloomed. When designing a garden with bee-friendly plants, a varied mix is the key: Use plants from different groups to create different areas in your garden. The greater the biodiversity, the bee-friendly your garden.
Here are some recommendations for bee-friendly plants for the whole year:
Spring
Onion flowers are usually early bloomers, so they can feed bees very early in the year. Recommended onion flowers are: snowdrops, grape hyacinths, crocuses, lily of the day, bluebells, March cups, tulips, winterlings or forest masters.
Other early bloomers are maple, apple and other cultivated fruit trees, chestnut, cherry, currant, dandelion, yellow hard bar, sloe, huflattich, crocus, primrose, willow, akelei, boar ash, chestnut, honorary prize, rotten tree, günsel, chestnut, almond tree, Mediterranean firethorn, peat
Summer
Blood willow, cucumber herb, honorary prize, fat hen, flake flower, bellflower, raspberry, blackberry, sky ladder, capuchin cress, clover, catnip, wildflowers e.B. cornflower, lily, lime, lavender, bee lover, flameflower, ornamental leek, silk plant, sunflower, sunflower, sunflower, stone clover, thyme, forest vine, wayman, wicker
autumn
blue nettle, yarrow, ball thistle, cornflower, mallow, iron hat, autumn timeless, thyme, red sun hat, sham sun hat, aster, bearded flower, bee tree, borage, blood willow, cucumber weed, dahlia, real alant, ivy, butterfly shrub, virginiamalve, sun bride, oregano
Winter
Hazelnut, hedge cherry, snowdrops, silk bast, winter or snow heath, Christrose
Space even in the smallest space - the bee-friendly balcony:
Even if you don't have a lot of space on a balcony.B, you can still help bees. Even a herb flower box on the window sim gives you delicious fresh herbs for the kitchen and bees a small bee pasture. Bees love mint, chime, sage, oregano, thyme and also parsley. Do not harvest some of the plants before flowering. This is how they become a popular source of food.
Balcony gardeners can rely on a varied mix of one-year-old summer flowers, herbs, perennials and exotics. Vanilla flower, zinnie, snowflake flower or fan flower are just as welcome to bees as lavender, thyme or basil. If you sow yourself, you will find great wildflower mixtures especially for bees in the trade.
We would like to point out once again that the available area for the own bee protection is completely irrelevant. Although the area may be small, it is used properly a great help for the bees.
Even with a seasonal, so entertaining planting, you do something good for the bees. Especially when it comes to plants for balconies or terraces, many resort to flower-rich one-year-olds. They usually provide bees with food for the summer months. To mention here:
- Marigold
- Cornflower
- Gossip poppy
- Bee lover
On the sunny terrace are also scented nettles, bearded flower, ysop, rose rose, ornamental leeks, bellflowers or man's litter hot swarms.
Bees are also thirsty:
Especially in summer (not only in the city) there is a lack of water areas. As temperatures rise, bees also need water sources to survive. Bees fly several hundred meters to meet your water needs. But especially in residential areas, natural water sources such as streams or ponds are rather rare. In summer, countless bees die in pools set up for children, in which you drown. Substances such as .B chlorine, which attract bees additionally, are also used in the pool.
In addition, it is also not advantageous for bees to meet their water requirements for puddles, in which other residues of lubricants or gasoline can be found in the city.
Offer bees a water potion. Do not fill the shell with sugar water. The bees would fight for the water and, in the worst case, stab themselves to death. In addition, the filled water should be lukewarm and stand in the sun. Bees will always avoid the surface of the water and are more likely to sit on the edge, where the water is already warmer and the bees themselves are not in danger of cooling down. Bees like to adopt a flat bowl with stones and sticks as a landing aid and protection against drowning. Rainwater is always preferred by bees, but also tap water helps bees to get through the summer well.
No chemistry in the garden:
Pesticides used in conventional agriculture are a major factor in species and bee deaths. Neonicotinoids are particularly devastating. These nerve toxins destroy the bees' sense of orientation and have a debilitating effect on the immune system. The bees can no longer find their way back to your hive and become susceptible to infection. Pesticides are poisoning and destroying entire bee colonies around the world.
There is already a rethink taking place, but even in DIY stores and garden centres there are still funds that contain pesticides and cause death and destruction for bees and insects.
Pesticides and chemical fertilizers are also often used in private gardens. Absolutely renounce it! Pesticides and mineral fertilizers are out of place in the bee garden. Rely on beneficial slings and organic fertilizers.
When shopping, make sure to buy organic vegetables and organic fruit from the region. These are healthier for you as they are not pesticide-contaminated and cultivation does not kill insects. If possible, inform yourself about organic farmers with direct sales in your area.
This is particularly true for viticulture. In conventional viticulture, many herbicides and fungicides are still used and the vineyard is depleted and the soils are almost dead. In bio-dynamic viticulture, this is dispensed with and made sure that you not only end up with a delicious drop in the glass, but also that there is enough space for bees, flowers and herbs between the vines.
Give bees a home:
You don't have to set up an entire hive and become a hobby beekeeper to give bees a home. Here, too, there is: even small deeds have a great effect.
If you have space in your garden, leave bees a stack of rock or deadwood. Other nesting possibilities are unplanted sand areas, hollow plant stems or wooden blocks with boreholes. It is particularly important not to completely "cleanse" the garden before winter, but to leave flowering plants standing. There, wild bees and other insects can hibernate.
A simple way to give bees a home is to set up a bee hotel. These offer wild bees an artificial nesting place. In the specialist trade or at nature conservation associations you will find bee-friendly accommodation for garden and balcony.
If you want to build a bee hotel yourself, make sure that you do not use soft wood or fir wood. In such woods, moisture passes through cracks and subsequently fungal growth then threatens the brood. Only hardwoods are suitable for the construction of a bee hotel.
When purchasing a nesting aid, it is important to ensure that the following nesting materials have NOT been used:
- Pine cones
- Straw
- Wooden blocks of soft wood with unclean, frayed boreholes (this can hurt the brood)
- branches drilled in brainwood
- Hole bricks
- bamboo tubes from which the marrow has not been drilled out or
- Bamboo tubes with crushed and splintered stalk edges
- Cardboard nesting tubes, as they are quickly infested by parasites.
A wide selection of bee hotels can be found here: naturschutzcenter.de
Natural corners for wild bees:
A natural garden not only looks beautiful and is also varied for the human eye. It also offers bees and other insects natural nesting aids and food sources that are welcome. In a garden with natural corners, biodiversity will automatically increase.
Grow in a corner of your garden, which grows or plant a flower meadow that only needs to be mowed 2 times a year. The bees will thank you and for you this corner means less gardening!
Also a pile of stones or wood, an unplastered wall or simply areas that are only minimally worked or managed by you are ideal for bees, bumblebees and co. There they are not disturbed and find peace. They remember this and will gladly return to these places to lay their nests .B (earth bumblebee).
Prefer hedges instead of fences as visual protection and property demarcation. Prefer native species when planting. A native shrub hedge with cornel cherry, rock pear, willow or rotten tree is ideal. The popular cherry laurel is evergreen, but not particularly valuable ecologically.
A stack on reclaimed wood is extremely helpful. At one point you can leave the wood to yourself. Nature finds its way and a pile of reclaimed wood also looks beautiful.
If you have fruit trees in the garden or plan to plant, make use of old native and high-stemmed varieties. In this way, you not only provide bees with a food source, but also ensure that the variety of fruit is preserved. Did you know that the pollination performance of wild bees significantly exceeds that of honeybees? So if you are promoting wild bees elsewhere in your own garden, you can look forward to a rich harvest of apples, pears, cherries or other fruit. Help nature, so nature helps you.
Engage:
More and more communities and farmers are not mowing down the edge strips of fields and roads as often. Ask your local community or farmer if you can convert part of the edge strip into a flower strip. You may find further support from public authorities, including financialsupport.
Make sure that the use of pesticides is strictly prohibited on municipal land. This must also apply to companies that maintain these areas on behalf of the company.
The BUND supports these activities and has therefore developed a guide "The pesticide-free municipality". It explains the "basic concept" of a pesticide-free municipality. The most important pesticide-free German municipalities will also be presented. The brochure can be downloaded or ordered free of postage via the BUNDladen.
everyone benefits from a pesticide-free community.People, especially children and community workers who use the pesticides, are no longer exposed to these toxins. The same applies to pets, which often react even more sensitively. Biodiversity and biodiversity will be strengthened as bees and other pollinator insects, microorganisms in the soil, birds and amphibians are no longer killed or weakened.
Do good and talk about it:
Everyone can contribute a small part to a bee-friendly environment. If many do, then we will be all the more successful. Share these tips with friends, friends, and colleagues. Share on Facebook and link to this page. The more you participate, the better.
