Bee mortality: Which "city dwellings" help Maya the Bee and Co.
To mitigate the consequences of bee mortality, more and more hobby gardeners are paying attention to bee-friendliness. While the issue has received little attention so far in the landscaping of new building projects, a compensation fund is for the first time specifically focusing on a flowering habitat for Maya the Bee and Co. in a construction project in Munich.
Domestic bee mortality is not only a fact because of climate change; intensive agriculture, the use of environmental toxins and urbanized zones without green spaces are also displacing bee colonies from our everyday picture. "The supply for wild and honey bees, butterflies and other pollinators is increasing in urban areas, but is insufficient, especially in many new development areas. Our concern with the current new development project 'Lipperheidestraße' with 192 apartments in the west of Munich is that residents and bees benefit equally and that awareness is raised further," explains Alfred Herrmann, Head of Real Estate at WAF.
Landscape architect Swantje Nowak of Nowak Partner, who are responsible for the project's landscape design, provides tips for bee-friendly landscaping below. Not only private builders and gardeners could learn a lot from this:
Flowering over a long period
"The most important thing is that something always blooms over as long a period as possible. The beauty of it is that what pleases the bees also pleases people," says Nowak. What many people don't know is that even in fall and winter there are plants that insects can use for their development. Nowak: "During the cold months, the supply is naturally not as great as in summer, as the bees retreat into their winter hive. But we have already planned three flowering plants ourselves from January, because on warm winter days above twelve degrees they definitely leave the bee cluster - to which climate change also contributes."
According to the planting plan, Christmas roses, winter roses and crocuses will bloom on Lipperheidestraße in January. In February, hazel, spring knotweed, snowdrops and snow heaths will join in. "The winter bloom is particularly important because it can prevent the bees from becoming exhausted or even dying before they brood as a result of the early flight," Nowak explains.
Native plant species with sufficient pollen and nectar
"Native bees need native plants such as scented violets, anemones, broom or dost, but also herbs such as sage, thyme or marjoram. Native trees, shrubs and perennials that provide nectar and pollen are also important," Nowak explains. That's why hazelnut and walnut trees grow in western Munich, as do sloes, black elderberry and perennial lupines. Double flower varieties such as geraniums, cultivated dahlias or garden chrysanthemums are decorative, but offer little or no pollen.
Nowak: "But it's not just about the bees. Both insects and birds depend on flower diversity. Birds also feed on the seeds and, last but not least, the insects that are present because of the plant diversity. If the insects are missing, the birds have too little food. Bees are therefore ambassadors of sustainable action," Nowak explains. Sustainability means a lot to the Wittelsbacher Ausgleichsfonds in two senses. "Where there are bees, there is a healthy ecosystem. With the project, we want to appeal to families in particular. Through landscaping, children are made aware of natural cycles at an early age," says Herrmann.
Create habitats through dense planting and diverse structures
Plants are not only food for bees, but above all habitat that provides them with building material for the brood cells where egg laying takes place. Therefore, when it comes to bee-friendliness, landscapers and hobby gardeners should pay attention to nesting aids. They can create these by using dead wood, gaps in stone walls or mounded, unplanted sand hills in beds. "We're seeing a shift in garden culture over the past decade toward increasingly bare surfaces and easy-to-maintain elements. Right now, for example, the gravel front yard without any plants is in vogue. We need to move away from sod and pruned hedges to a garden that we ourselves enjoy again and where we enjoy spending time," Nowak says.
A bee-friendly garden has diverse structures such as heights and depths, dead wood, water sources or dry walls. "For the residential neighborhood on Lipperheidestraße, we therefore paid attention to dense, ground-covering planting. Only through diversity can we do justice to the nearly 600 wild bee species, the majority of which nest in the ground or in plant stalks," Nowak explains.
| Background: The condition of bees is a cause for concern. Since 1990, the number of bee colonies in Germany has declined by 40 percent. The reasons cited are monotonous agriculture, the use of pesticides in fields, the disappearance of natural habitats and the Varroa mite. 300 of the 585 local bee species are threatened with extinction. Yet the production of one in three foods begins with flower pollination by bees or other insects. In Germany alone, this affects food worth around 1.7 billion euros every year. Although the number of bees is currently declining overall, the honeybee population is experiencing an upswing - which is also due to an influx of beekeepers. Since 2005, the number of beekeepers in Germany has risen from just over 80,000 to 114,500. Especially in cities, hobby beekeeping is enjoying growing interest. In Munich alone, 1,200 beekeepers are now registered. A total of around 792,202 bee colonies are managed by beekeepers nationwide. In the future, the goal will be to mobilize more beekeepers in rural areas and protect wild bees more effectively. |
About the Wittelsbach Equalization Fund
The Wittelsbacher Ausgleichsfonds (WAF) is a foundation under public law. The purpose of the WAF is to preserve the cultural heritage of the House of Wittelsbach entrusted to it and to manage the foundation's assets. The foundation's areas of activity include real estate, agriculture and forestry, financial investments as well as art, castles and museums.
