Create an attractive patch in your garden for (bumble-)bees

Bumblebees are increasingly struggling to find suitable nesting sites in inhabited areas. Like bees, they are very important for the pollination of plants. They prefer to settle in loose soil between nectar-producing plants, but there are fewer and fewer of these places. With specific plants, bumblebee hives and by not filling all the voids in walls, these beautiful pollinators can still find a place to reproduce in our gardens. Even an old birdhouse can serve as a bumblebee nest.

For bees and bumblebees, the garden does not have to be large, even a balcony or city garden with the right plants and flowers can offer the bees a lot. In early spring (from March), early bloomers, such as crocuses and snowdrops, are attractive to them. If possible, provide a sunny, 'messy corner' in the garden or in a large pot with loose soil between the plants, so that a bumblebee queen can nest in it. Further in the season, herb corners with lavender, catnip, marjoram, thyme, and rosemary are important food sources for bumblebees.

It is important to have flowering plants all year round, so not only in summer, but also in early autumn. That way there is always one or another bloomer that ensures sufficient bumblebee food in the garden. The more plants with nectar and hiding places, the more bumblebees feel at home. For example, hiding places can be hollows in walls, dense bushes, an old birdhouse, a bee hotel or special bumblebee-nesting-box.

Bring the delicious scent and colour of lavender and heather indoors or to your garden table and combine with our beautiful napkins and table accessories from the series 'Bumblebees in the meadow'.