Practical workshop “We are building a beetle castle”
It is certainly not easy for some to imagine what a beetle castle is, but if you deal with the topic more closely, it quickly becomes clear how important beetles and above all a suitable habitat for them are.
What is a beetle castle?
A beetle castle is like a small hotel for beetles and insects of all kinds. Contrary to what the name might suggest, not only beetles live here. The structure is kept simple, but still offers – if done correctly – important habitat for many different species of beetles. The basis for this is a pit into which different types and sizes of deadwood trunks are dug. To stabilize the logs, the gaps are then filled with a mixture of earth and sawdust. With a beetle castle, we take care of a particularly valuable piece of nature.
Why is standing deadwood so important?
Dead wood usually only catches the eye when it appears "messy", caused by broken branches or storm damage. Disorder is a very subjective feeling, because the creatures that benefit from the wood know exactly what to find where. For some of us it's just dead and useless wood. But that's not true at all. Deadwood in particular is an important part of a functioning nature and is now an increasingly rare habitat that serves as a source of food, shelter and nesting place for many animal and plant species. Standing deadwood in particular is very valuable, as it weathers more slowly and therefore offers an adequate habitat, especially for plant and fungal species.
And why beetles?
Approximately 7500 beetle species are known throughout Austria. About 1/5 of the native beetle species need wood as a habitat. Some of us find bugs disgusting and for some the little buggers might even be a thorn in their side. What we often don't see is that they also take on important tasks in nature. Many of them are natural pest repellents, scavengers, essential food sources for birds and other small animals. They are also among the pollinators.
The Woerle farmers as active living space designers
As part of the federal, state and EU funded project "We build (r)n for diversity", in which WOERLE is a project partner, our farmers together with the ÖKL and under the direction of the biologist Georg Derbuch on The Maislinger family built such a beetle castle. At the beginning, all participants were shown how important biodiversity is and what special features there are among the beetle species during a tour of the company. After a lunch break, work began, and the first WOERLE beetle castle in Upper Austria was built with a combined effort.
Many thanks to the great speakers for this impressive practical workshop, where everyone was able to take away a lot of new knowledge.
Did you know that…
… along with flies, beetles are among the first pollinators in the history of the earth? For more than 130 million years, flower-visiting beetles have primarily eaten pollen, as the nectar is often hidden too deeply for their short, biting mouthparts. They are therefore more likely to be found on easily accessible, open, pollen-rich flowers such as roses, apple trees, angelica and wild carrots. Everything that has whitish or yellow-brownish flowers or stinks is loved and visited with great pleasure. Beetles also like to use the flowers for sunbathing, spending the night or as a mating place.
