Springtime = balcony time – how my balcony helps the bees and the environment
Bee hotel, done by AnneMarie Ohnoutka, 2024
As I do every spring, I’m going to “winterise” my balcony. I remove the brown, annual plants in the flowerpots from the previous year and replace them with fresh, flowering ones. When buying plants, I make sure that the flowers are suitable as food for bees. As pollinators, they ensure the propagation and survival of plants and thus support biodiversity.
A few years ago, I bought a “bee hotel” – which was available ready-made at the DIY store at the time – and since then, wild bees have been busy nesting in it and renewing their breeding ground every year. They also need flowering plants as food.
Here some plants suitable as bee food:
- Crocuses (Crocus)
- Carpathian bellflower (Campanula carpatica)
- Lavender (Lavendula angustifolia)
- White stonecrop (Sedum album)
- Dyer’s chamomile (Anthemis tinctoria)
- Nasturtium (Tropaeolum majus nanum)
See also Life Hack No. 15: Biodiversity and the loss of nature.
What about making your own bee hotel?
There are plenty of different instructions on the internet. Here one example:
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Let us know in the comments if you already have built/got one and if you already have some guest there? Which material did you use? Where did you place it?
Did you already do some work on the balcony/in your garden? What did you plant? What are your recommendations for a bee friendly and biodiverse backyard/garden/balcony?
Blog by AnneMarie Ohnoutka
A few days ago I was able to welcome back a very welcome guest to my garden: my hummingbird hawk-moth (Macroglossum stellatarum) is back! It was fluttering wildly around my forget-me-not. It’s now in its third year here and particularly likes the phlox, which blooms profusely in every corner in the summer.
For such observations, it is worth working on a flowering garden or balcony.
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hummingbird_hawk-moth)
Does biodiversity actually work in the workplace?
I think so. Do you have an area outside that is planted with plants? Our campus is surrounded by numerous lawns and a large meadow. We are even lucky enough to have a green classroom, which is not just an inviting place for lunch breaks, but can actually be used for study groups. And then there are numerous trees and hedges on our grounds, which are home to such beauties as goldfinches (Carduelis carduelis).
Discover, design and preserve your environment. Involve your learners…