Text icon 'UFR' standing for University of Freiburg
Chair of Nature Conservation and Landscape Ecology
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Protection of wild bees

Key measures to promote and protect wild bees

Maintaining and managing existing habitats

  • Near-natural structures such as hedgerows, field margins, flower meadows, overgrown slopes, dry stone walls, etc.
  • Think of “weeds” as a valuable food source for bees.
  • Let blackberry bushes grow a little wild – many bees love the flowers, and some species even nest in the stems.
  • Pile cuttings in a corner of your garden – they offer nesting sites for bees and other animals.
  • Keep dead stems in place – they provide valuable nesting sites for bees.

Increasing floral diversity

  • Provide a diverse range of flowers throughout the growing season (for information on bee-friendly plants, see e.g. wildbienen.info and wildbienen.de and Bienenweidekatalog).
  • Avoid exotic plants and special hybrids – they are often not suitable for bees, especially double-flowered plants, which are bred so that nectar and pollen are inaccessible.
  • To keep food available for insects, mow lawns and trim bushes or hedges in sections or strips. Leave flowering plants that insects can reach and cut them later. This advice applies not just to home gardens, but also to city green spaces and farmland.

Increasing nesting sites

  • Maintain and create suitable nesting areas for ground-nesting bees, which make up most native bee species. These can include sparsely vegetated spots along paths or in lawns, as well as exposed edges or natural unplastered stone walls. The areas should be sunny and left undisturbed. (For more information, see the fact sheet on ground-nesting wild bees from wildbee.ch)
  • Nesting aids for bees that nest above-ground support only a few species, but they can boost local populations. Key construction features include smooth entrances, hole diameters of 3–10 mm, and tubes at least 12 cm long. Placement matters too – they should be set up in a sheltered spot, protected from rain and wind.

Avoid synthetic chemical pesticides

This includes insecticides that directly affect insects and herbicides that eliminate food sources for bees. The best approach in a home garden is to avoid synthetic chemical pesticides entirely and instead choose robust plants suited to the local conditions.

Information material

Book recommendation

The “Praxishandbuch Nutzpflanzenbestäubung” focuses on promoting pollinators in agricultural landscapes. It includes detailed profiles of plants and bees, as well as concrete measures to specifically support pollinators and thereby enhance pollination services.

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Flyer nesting aids

The flyer provides information on which insects nest in nesting aids and includes useful tips for building overwintering habitats for wild bees and solitary wasps.

Flyer beneficial insects in the garden

This flyer provides information on specific measures to support wild bees and solitary wasps in your garden, as well as on the decline of insect populations and its causes.

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More information on the ecology and behavior of wild bees

Additional information on promoting and protecting wild bees

Practical example of applied nature conservation in urban areas

As part of their studies, students built insect houses in Freiburg

As part of the modules “Stadt, Garten Landschaft und Gestaltung” (2016-2018) and “Nachhaltige Landnutzung und Naturschutz” (2017-2018), students built a total of ten insect houses in Freiburg under the guidance of Felix Fornoff.

Practical relevance plays an important role in the courses offered by the Chair of Nature Conservation and Landscape Ecology. Based on the knowledge of wild bee ecology and taxonomy acquired in the modules, the students designed the insect house themselves and selected the materials accordingly. It was particularly important that the diverse materials provided suitable nesting opportunities for different insect species.

The insect house was made in the carpentry workshop of the University of Freiburg’s Forest Botanical Garden. In addition, the students created flyers on nesting aids, food resources and solitary wasps. Their fellow students from the previous year created display boards to inform the public about the ecology, habitat requirements and behaviour patterns of the animals, as well as their relevance to humans.

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Locations of the insect houses of the University of Freiburg