Times when there are no hay blossoms – this is how the wild bees overwinter
When it's freezing cold outside and the snow is falling, we humans like to warm ourselves up in the comfort of our own home and enjoy the coziness. The dairy cows are well protected by their winter fur during the cold months and are lovingly cared for by the Woerle farmers. The beekeeper has prepared the honey bee for the winter in good time and for a long time now it has been snuggling up close together with its colony, safely and comfortably warm in the hive. But what do the wild bees do during the months of cold weather?
Wild bees and bumblebees – loners
“In contrast to honey bees, most wild bee species live as solitary animals and usually form no or only annual colonies. The wild bee usually lives for about 4 - 8 weeks and usually does not even experience the winter." explains ecologist Prof. Dr. Stefan Dötterl “The females die in the summer after they have laid their eggs in suitable nesting sites that have been provided with sufficient nectar and pollen and then well closed and protected, such as in old wood, self-dug earth tunnels or fetched plant stalks. The brood is left to its own devices during its development in winter and only hatches as a new generation of bees in the spring. But there are also wild bees, such as the blue-black carpenter bee, which hibernate together as a pair in above-ground cavities and only reproduce in spring.”
Bumblebees are large, fluffy wild bees, but live in nests much like honey bees. In the spring, the queens build nests, from which a colony of up to 100 bumblebees develops over the summer. In late autumn, most of the colony dies. “Only fertilized young queens, who choose their winter quarters themselves, overwinter in bumble bees. In the spring, when the temperatures rise, they swarm out and form their own colony,” says entomologist Prof. Dr. John Neumayer.
How the Woerle dairy farmers help the wild bees through the winter
“We have learned so many new things about wild bees over the past few years as part of the Woerle project. Since then, we have been much more conscious of ensuring that there are sufficient nesting opportunities for insects, especially in the winter,” reports one of the participating dairy farmers. “For example, we leave the cut, woody stems of the plants. And look how many bees have nested in the deadwood trunk - we were proud of it," laughs the farmer's wife.
Everyone can support the wild bees in winter
Nesting sites are an essential part of the habitat for wild bees in winter. Almost half of all wild bees nest underground. Piles of sand and areas of clay in the garden are valuable space. Rotten wood, dry plant stalks, cut reed stalks, even empty snail shells offer the bees suitable nesting sites for their offspring.
If you want to help wild bees and other insects through the winter, you can, for example, in your own garden:
- Drill 3-9mm holes in a larger piece of untreated old wood and place in a place protected from rain and wind
- leave dead stalks of elder, rose, mullein, blackberries, raspberries, etc. over the winter
- Create "wild corners" in the garden where old grass is allowed to grow
- Stack natural stones
- leave empty snail shells
