Every year in July the same frightening picture emerges when hundreds of dead bumblebees lie under linden trees. We have compiled the causes of bumblebee deaths and explain how you can support bumblebees in your own garden.

In a nutshell

  • Bumblebees do not find enough food in late summer
  • need a lot of energy for their flight
  • only the strongest can withstand the competition for food on the linden trees
  • Silver linden trees have no part in the death of bumblebees
  • Hobby gardeners can support bumblebees by growing nectar-rich plants

Popular & valuable in nature

Bumblebees (Bombus), the thick, black and yellow, furry bumblebees, are popular with young and old. Like bees, they live in colonies with one queen, workers, drones and young queens. After a year, the bumblebee colony dies, only the young queens survive.
Bumblebees are important pollinators that need to be supported. According to research, they are active 18 hours a day. A single bumblebee visits about a thousand flowers a day. In contrast to bees, bumblebees fly even at low temperatures. Some plants, such as the popular tomato, are pollinated almost exclusively by bumblebees.

bumblebee die-off

Every year in summer we see masses of dead bumblebees under blooming linden trees. What happened?
Unlike bees, bumblebees rarely store food. In summer they no longer get enough food, although there are ornamental plants in bloom in the gardens. However, many of the popular flowering plants are not suitable as forage plants for bumblebees, as they cannot find any nectar there. The insects are then attracted to the fragrant linden blossoms. When they reach it, already weak, they encounter other bumblebees, bees and insects in search of nectar. Anyone who cannot withstand the strong competition dies.
The bumblebee mortality phenomenon has been observed for about forty to fifty years. It's not the silver linden trees that are to blame, but rather the lack of suitable forage plants in the areas inhabited by humans.

Notice: Of the 36 bumblebee species known in Germany, only seven still occur frequently. All bumblebee species are strictly protected!

protect bumblebees

If you have a garden, you can already support bumblebees with a suitable selection of plants and thus prevent bumblebees from dying. The big growlers need food from spring to autumn. Just a few days without food can mean the end of the bumblebee colony. However, a natural garden forms a good basis for an adequate supply of pollen and nectar sources.
With our selection, you can design your garden in such a way that flowers are available until autumn.

Flowering time March to April

  • Crocus (Crocus)
  • Cowslip (Primula veris)
crocus

Flowering time April to May

  • Lungwort (Pulmonaria)
  • Waldsteinia (Waldsteinia ternata)

Flowering time May to June

  • Snowball (Viburnum)
  • Community honeysuckle (Lonicera xylosteum)
  • Late bird cherry (Prunus serotina)
  • Euonymus europaeus
  • Raspberry (Rubus idaeus)
  • Motherwort (Leonurus)
  • Meadow bellflower (Campanula patula)

Flowering time June to July

  • Black elder (Sambucus nigra)
  • Dog Rose (Rosa canina)
  • Glossy privet (Ligustrum lucidum)
  • Columbine (Aquilegia vulgaris)
  • Iris (Iris pseudacorus)
  • Motherwort (Leonurus)
  • Catnip (Nepeta x faassenii)

Flowering time July to August

  • Nasturtium (Tropaeolum majus)
  • Foxglove (digitalis)
  • Larkspur (Delphinium grandiflorum)
  • Sage (Salvia officinalis)
  • Lemon Balm (Melissa officinalis)
  • Wollziest (Stachys byzantina)
  • Yarrow (Achillea millefolium)
yarrow

Flowering period August to September

  • Gaping Mouth (Chaenorhinum origanifolium)
  • Calamint (Calamintha nepeta)
  • Scabiosis (Scabiosa caucasica)
  • Wild mallow (Malva sylvestris)
  • Tufted Beauty (Phacelia)
  • Purple Coneflower (Echinacea purpurea)

Flowering period September to October

  • Purple Bells (Heuchera)
  • Monkshood (Aconitum carmichaelii)
  • Autumn Aster (Aster dumosus)

Notice: In the natural garden you should definitely provide an area for wild plants.

The following wild plants are suitable for supporting bumblebees:

  • dandelion
  • kidney vetch
  • Horn clover
  • Groundman
  • meadow sage
  • celandine
dandelion

Notice: When choosing plants for your garden, give preference to unfilled varieties. Ornamental plants with double flowers are beautiful to look at, and the stamens are often transformed into petals. The flowers attract insects but offer no nectar.

create nesting opportunities

In addition to providing a colorful range of food in the garden, you can also support bumblebees by creating nesting opportunities.
Offer piles of rocks or piles of wood to shelter bumblebees, insects and small animals. Bumblebees like to move into abandoned mouse holes.
Build insect hotels. Dry reed and elder twigs or hardwoods with holes of different sizes are readily accepted by the black and yellow furred animals.
By the way, even without your own garden, you can prevent bumblebees from dying. Plant flower boxes with unfilled flowering plants. Enjoy the splendor of the flowers and look forward to the visit of the big buggers.

Support bumblebees with sugar solution

In cool spring and autumn, bumblebees are at risk. The food supply is small. With an additional feeding you can support bumblebees in the garden.
Manual:

  • Mix dextrose, table sugar and warm water in a ratio of 30:30:40 percent
  • Place the solution in small, heavy containers near the bumblebee's burrow

frequently asked Questions

Where do bumblebees nest?

Bumblebees prefer wall cracks for nesting. Piles of wood and dry stone walls are also suitable. Nest boxes for birds or abandoned mouse holes are often used.

What to do if you discover a bumblebee nest in the garden?

Enjoy the lodgers. Don't worry, bumblebees are peaceful. The female animals have a stinging device, which they only use when threatened. A bumblebee sting is quickly forgotten.

What enemies does the bumblebee have?

Next to humans, the wax moth (Aphomia sociella) is the bumblebee's biggest enemy. A single wax moth is capable of destroying an entire colony. She finds the bumblebee's nest with the help of her sense of smell. She lays her eggs in the nest, from which larvae hatch after a few days. The wax moth larvae feed on the bumblebee brood. In addition to the wax moth, mites, bumblebee hoverflies and bumblebee nematodes threaten the bumblebee colony.

Category:

Animals in the garden