How do I create a bee-friendly garden? Dramatic declines in insects and worrying bee deaths make this issue a top priority in natural hobby gardens. This guide describes important components that transform the bed and balcony into a land of milk and honey for honey bees, wild bees, wasps and bumblebees.
How do you design a bee-friendly garden?
A bee-friendly garden offers nectar-rich flowers, dry sandy areas, insect hotels and a diverse selection of plants. Rely on native plants such as real chamomile, wild carrots, viper's head, dead nettles, field marigolds or bluebells. Avoid geraniums and petunias as they are of no value to bees.
What belongs in a bee-friendly garden?
It's a busy time in the bee-friendly garden. The air is filled with humming and humming. Earthworms and microorganisms work tirelessly in the soil to produce valuable humus. Where the flora and fauna are full of life, busy honey bees, busy wild bees and busy bumblebees also feel at home. By consistently avoiding pesticides and artificial fertilizers, you are taking the first step towards a bee paradise. These components transform your garden into an inviting oasis of well-being for insects:
- native food plants with simple, nectar-rich flowers
- mixed flower hedges, planted dry stone walls, hollow tree trunks as retreats
- Herbal spiral with wild herbs and water source
- flowering meadows and green strips instead of English lawns
- Green manure plants as pre-, intermediate and post-culture in the vegetable patch
- dry sand areas for sand bees and wild bees
- Nest boxes, insect hotels and watering holes
A bee-friendly garden offers insects everything they need to build nests. Mason bees, barrel wasps and willow sand bees, for example, find the building materials they need for this year's kindergarten on open, moist clay surfaces.
Garten für Bienen in Ellingen | Frankenschau | Reportage
Gourmet plants for bees
A varied planting plan guarantees that bees, wasps and bumblebees will find a rich buffet in the garden from January to October. This is achieved with local flowers, perennials and trees, which, as gourmet plants, overflow with nectar and pollen. The following table introduces you to valuable food plants for the bee-friendly garden:
| Flowers and perennials | Flowering time | Woods | Flowering time | Herbs | Flowering time |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Snowdrops (Galanthus) | February to March | Cornelian cherry (Cornus mas) | February to April | Scented Violet (Viola odorata) | March to April |
| Wild Tulip (Tulipa sylvestris) | March to June | Willow (Salix) | March to April | Thyme (Thymus vulgaris) | May to October |
| Musk mallow (Malva moschata) | June to October | Privet (Ligustrum vulgare) | May to June/July | Arnica (Arnica montana) | May to August |
| Cornflower (Centaurea cyanus) | June to October | Dogwood (Cornus sanguinea) | May to June | Rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis) | June to September |
| Snakehead (Echium vulgare) | May to October | Dog rose (Rosa canina) | June to October | Marigold (Calendula officinalis) | June to October |
Please always give preference to wild species. Plant varieties with double flowers are a bitter disappointment for honey bees, wild bees and colleagues. There is usually no nectar inside the flower. Bees often have no chance of getting through the dense petals to find food and waste a lot of energy on the deceptive deception.
Shade-tolerant nectar and pollen donors
Wood anemones are the ideal bee-friendly shade flower
It's not just the sunny sides that count in the garden and on the balcony. Where light is in short supply, shade-tolerant nectar and pollen donors are in demand, which offer bees a set table. The following plants fulfill this task brilliantly:
- White wood anemone (Anemone nemorosa): flowering period April and May
- Forest strawberry (Fragaria vesca): flowering period May to July
- Yellow Larkspur (Corydalis lutea): flowering period May to September
- Cimbalaria (Cimbalaria muralis): flowering period June to October
Ivy (Hedera helix) is guaranteed for a nectar-rich end to the season. The climbing plant only blooms when most of the nectar sources in the garden have dried up. Nature-loving gardeners can be sure that everything with six legs will be here in the fall.
Tip
Attend a lecture on the topic of bee-friendly gardening. In Germany and Austria, numerous organizations and initiatives offer exciting information from the mouths of experienced experts. “deutschland-summt.de” and “Bodenbündnis Österreich” serve as role models. Check out the events calendar of the regional adult education center (VHS). The annual Federal Garden Show is accompanied by several lectures about bee-friendly gardens.
Wild bees in need – recommended food plants
Wild carrots are very popular with bees
Most wild bees are lone fighters. In contrast to honey bees, they do not form colonies and are hardly noticeable. In fact, wild bees provide more than 90 percent of the pollination work. A good reason to take the special needs of wild bees into account when selecting plants for a bee-friendly garden. Many species specialize in a single plant species, which now puts them in extreme distress. The following table lists important wild bee species and their preferred food plants:
| Plant name | botanical name | Wild bee | scientific name |
|---|---|---|---|
| Real Chamomile | Matricaria recutita | Humpback Silk Bee | Collet es daviesanus |
| Adderhead | Echium vulgare | Viperhead Mason Bee | Osmia adunca |
| Wild Carrot | Daucus carota | Hairstrand Sand Bee | Andrena nitiduiscula |
| Field marigold | Calendula arvensis | Common Hole Bee | Osmia truncorum |
| Deadnettle | Lamium maculatum | Fur Bee | Anthrophora spec. |
| Ballbellflower | Campanula glomerata | Bluebell sawhorn bee | Melitta haemorrhoidalis |
Forage plants alone do not ensure the survival of wild bees. The sensitive insects also depend on undisturbed breeding places. The majority of females nest in the ground. For this purpose, they dig a tunnel and create the brood cells in it. It is obvious that frequent tillage or the use of artificial fertilizers and pesticides are pure poison for wild bees. If you have discovered a nest in the ground, mark the site and refrain from working with the rake until the underground family planning has been completed. Please ban blue corn, glyphosate and the like from your bee-friendly garden.
Excursus
Motivation boost competition
Hard-working gardeners are rewarded for their bee-friendly garden with nationwide attention and a generous prize. The “deutschland-summt” initiative organizes an annual competition under the motto “We do something for bees”. Private gardeners, balcony gardeners, kindergartens, schools and municipalities can take part. Winners and runners-up will be awarded in the House of Representatives in Berlin. The jury publishes successful photo documentation of bee-friendly gardening in numerous media.
Bee buffet on the balcony – planting tip for balcony gardeners
Bees can also find nectar on the balcony
Balcony gardeners make an important contribution to maintaining a livable world for bees, bumblebees and other insects. You can create a bee-friendly mini garden in a pot in a small space and enjoy the hustle and bustle. The following planting tips for sunny or shady locations may inspire your imagination for a tempting bee buffet on the balcony:
Plant, material and tool list
- sunny: Meadow knapweed (Centaurea jacea), viper's head (Echium vulgare), speedwell (Veronica)
- partly shaded: meadow sage (Salvia), carnation (Dianthus superbus), meadow bellflower (Campanula patula)
- shady: Columbine (Aquilegia vulgaris), lungwort (Pulmonaria), forest bedstraw (Galium slyvaticum)
- Plant container: Pot or bowl, necessarily with at least one bottom opening
- Substrate: peat-free potting soil and fertilized coconut fiber soil in equal parts
- Accessories: trowel, pottery shards, watering can, water
As decoration, we recommend empty snail shells instead of stones or figures. Various solitary wild bee species first collect a supply of pollen in such a cavity. The female then lays her eggs and closes the opening with a paste made from chewed leaves.
Planting instructions
- Place the plants and pot in water until no more air bubbles appear
- Cover the bottom opening with a potsherd
- Fill in the substrate up to half the height of the pot
- Unpot plants and plant them 10 to 15 cm apart
- arrange tall plants at the back, low ones at the front
- fill with substrate until the root balls are covered and no longer visible
- Press down the soil and water thoroughly (water runs out from the bottom)
Please place a bee-friendly pot garden for the south-facing balcony in a partially shaded location for a week. Here the plants can get used to the bright sunlight. An abrupt confrontation with direct sun poses the risk of leaf damage due to sunburn.
Frequently asked questions
I don't have the time to attend a lecture. Can you recommend a book on the topic of “bee-friendly gardens”?
The book en titled “My Garden – a Bee Paradise” by Bruno P. is highly recommended. Kremer (€29.00 at Amazon). Informative and reader-friendly, you will receive a compact introduction to bee-friendly gardens. More than 500 pictures and 200 plant profiles make the book ideal reading for families. The book was published by Haupt-Verlag, Bern (ISBN 978-3-258-07844-1) at a price of 29.90 euros.
What can we do for bees without our own garden and balcony?
Take on a flower sponsorship to let an empty area of ground bloom with gourmet plants for bees, bumblebees and butterflies. The Mellifera e. V initiative is in charge with its UN-awarded project “Blooming Landscapes”. You determine how many square meters of landscape bloom. You can claim the financial contribution as a donation. In return, you will receive a colorful, buzzing 3D sign to put up and you can visit your flowering area at any time.
I've heard that geraniums and petunias are useless to bees and bumblebees. Which bee-friendly plants can I plant in my balcony boxes?
With their lavish abundance of flowers, geraniums and petunias hide the fact that they have nothing to offer bees and bumblebees. Recommended alternatives with plenty of nectar include fan flowers (Scaevola aemula), scented rockwort (Lobularia), nasturtium (Tropaeolum majus) and vanilla flower (Heliotrope).
Which plants are suitable for a bee-friendly roof garden with full sun and dry ground?
For full sun, dry locations, floral specialists are needed who don't let up even in midsummer. The delicate spring Adonis rose (Adonis vernalis) opens the nectar buffet in March. Anthyllis vulneraria continues the flower festival with yellow-orange colors in May and June. Noble germander (Teucrium chamaedrys) shines with blue, nectar-rich flowers from July to September. The golden crested aster (Galatella linosyris) shines in competition with the autumn sun from August to October.
Tip
Where there are numerous beneficial insects in the garden, pests and vermin have a bad hand. With a cat-proof hedgehog house, you invite the prickly pest killers to linger. In order to increase the insect population with ladybirds, parasitic wasps and lacewings, special farms offer larvae and eggs. If the ecological balance is right, bees, bumblebees and butterflies are not far away.
