10 tips for a bee paradise in your own garden

bee deaths? Not with us! With these ten tips, you can turn your garden into a paradise for the busy bees without much effort.

The death of bees is on everyone's lips. More and more of the small insects are disappearing because they can neither find food nor a place to live in big cities and agricultural deserts. But many gardens are also not bee-friendly and offer neither retreats nor sources of nutrients. The hard-working helpers are so important: not only do they produce the sweet honey that ends up on our bread in the morning - they are also one of the most important pollinators for many plants. But how can you help the bees? With these ten tips you can turn your garden into a paradise for bees and thus make a contribution to stopping bee deaths.

Tip 1: Bee-friendly plants

roses, geraniums and dahlias are nice to look at, but are not one of them at all bee friendly plants. The bulging flowers with the sweet scent promise the bee a rich meal, but in reality they have little or no food to offer the hard-working helpers. lavender, bluebell and Nasturtium not only look good, they also provide the bees with enough pollen and nectar. If you not only rely on decorative plants, but also want to benefit from your garden, you also have a large selection of bee-friendly plants. Almost all fruit trees are real bee magnets, but so are spice beds thyme and numerous types of vegetables help the yellow-black heroes.

Tip 2: The variety makes it

It's not just the type of plants that matters: if the bee sees flowering plants for just a few weeks a year, it suffers just as much as if there were no plants at all. The remedy is very simple: Anyone who keeps early, medium and late flowering plants not only has a dream of blooms in the garden all year round, but also helps the bees. In spring they bloom crocuses first and help the bees to refuel after the long winter. In autumn, on the other hand, heather varieties sedum and ivy at the last meals. are particularly recommended asters: The autumn aster blooms even until the first frost. Our Plantura bee pasture contains a wide variety of bee-friendly flowers and herbs. In this way, you offer the bees in your garden an even supply of food over months.

Tip 3: Get rid of chemistry

aphids, snails, ants? Quickly get rid of the pests. As soon as the first harmful insects appear, hobby gardeners also resort to insecticides. What many people forget, however, is that beneficial insects such as bees are often not spared from the chemicals, even if they shouldn't actually be driven away. Anyone who only has a slight pest infestation should therefore first of all home remedies to grab. These often bring the desired success and get by without any collateral damage. If the use of pesticides is unavoidable, pay attention to the manufacturer's instructions. The more pests are controlled with a product, the greater the likelihood that bees will also suffer. Some companies also offer special sprays that are supposed to be particularly gentle on beneficial insects. Nevertheless, the use of chemicals should be reserved for emergencies and the funds should not be applied to large areas, but only to the plants that are really affected.

Tip 4: Pure nature

Gravel beds, short lawns and trimmed hedges are beautiful. But if the bed is too tidy, it will hardly attract bees. After all, such meticulously maintained gardens usually offer hardly any retreats or food for insects. Nevertheless, the garden does not have to be neglected. Even small corners and changes can have a big impact. A bed full of wildflowers has its own charm and provides food for bees all summer long. Even small corners where no lawn is mowed or some weeds in the garden are not very noticeable, but offer wild animals food and a home. Dead wood and piles of stones in particular should not be removed: they offer wild bees a place for their brood tubes so that they can reproduce.

Tip 5: A little water

A garden pond is not only beautiful, it is also a godsend for bees. Because what many forget: Even bees need a sip of water from time to time. Especially in hot, dry months, a pond (no matter how small) can be a real lifesaver. And the fresh water doesn't just offer something to drink: numerous aquatic plants such as water lilies also bring a refreshing meal for in between. If you want to be particularly bee-friendly, you should not keep any fish in your pond. No matter how peaceful the little swimmers look – many species of fish do not refuse a bee as a small snack between meals.

Tip 6: The bee waterer

A pond is too much work or just not possible in your garden? Do you only have a balcony? You can still offer the little helpers refreshments. With the simplest means, the construction of a bee watering place is accomplished in a few minutes. Simply fill a flat bowl with water, put a few stones in it so that they look out of the water surface and the mini pond is ready. The bees can land on the rocks and take a few sips from there without the risk of falling into the water and drowning. Incidentally, the ideal place for such a bee trough is next to a flower bed. So the little animals don't have to go far to the next meal after their drink.

Tip 7: Welcome to the hotel

For wild bees in particular, the biggest challenge is not finding food, but finding the right place to live. Dead wood, niches in the walls or piles of stones can no longer be found in many gardens and pose a major problem for insects. The few remaining nesting sites are highly contested. An insect hotel can provide a simple remedy. No larger than a bird house, this emergency home for homeless bees is easy to make yourself or purchase at many garden centers. But it is easier to drill nest tubes in a few blocks of wood. With a diameter of 8 mm and a length of 8 cm, these small holes are the perfect retreat for mason bees, which do a good job especially in orchards.

Tip 8: How does a vegetable garden help?

A Vegetable patch in your own garden not only rewards us with fresh and healthy food, but is a real bee savior, even if it doesn't appear so at first glance. Anyone who grows food from their own garden buys less (or even none if they are self-sufficient) from industrial production. In this, the fruits are often grown in large monocultures and treated with strong insecticides, since the farmers depend on a good yield. For bees, however, these huge fields are a nightmare. In the home garden stand against it potatoes Next salad and cabbage and as a rule, no spray is used: ideal conditions for the plants. If you don't have your own vegetable garden, you can also support the organic farmers in the area. These also do not use any chemical plant protection and thus protect our bees.

Tip 9: Good neighbors

In fact, many beekeepers have trouble finding a place to put their hives. People's fear of the stings of the small animals prevents them from giving beekeepers and bees a chance. Many people also reject insect hotels for this reason. Bees are very peace-loving animals and only sting in extreme danger, because a sting always ends fatally for them. In fact, many wild bees have stingers so small that they cannot even penetrate human skin. Fear of stings is therefore not necessary and a beehive in the garden also has some advantages: the harvest falls through better pollination bigger, the environment is strengthened and a glass or two of honey from the grateful beekeeper as a fee for the space in the garden will certainly jump in too out.

Tip 10: Not just the garden

You can support our local bees not only in your own garden: Instead of buying honey from the supermarket, you prefer to use regional honey from the beekeeper. So your money doesn't end up in the pocket of a large corporation, but is reinvested in the bees. Always rinse your honey jars before throwing them in the jar container. Honey transmits many bee diseases and if bees find the sweet gold, these diseases can be introduced and wipe out entire colonies. For the same reason, weakened bees should never be replenished with honey. Instead, you can offer the bee some sugar water to give it strength for the return flight. You should also refrain from using adhesive strips for fly catching (at least outdoors). In addition to the annoying pests, beneficial insects such as bees or ladybugs also stick to it and die.

the 10 Most Bee-Friendly Plants we have compiled it here again in detail for you. And if you also want to support butterflies, you will find the best ones in this post butterfly friendly plants.