Do you have a big heart for bees and bumblebees and already have many corresponding perennials in your garden?

Bravo!

Bags with the appropriate seeds are now available free of charge even at the petrol station.

However, you can do a lot more specifically for the flying farm animals.

Treat them to something very special, now plant a rock pear, a bubble tree or a special wood with the mystical name Seven Sons of Heaven!

With these and many other trees and shrubs you can prepare heavenly food for the flying pollinators, which are so immensely important to us - from March to September. Because: “A single perennial cannot feed a bee or bumblebee state, a linden tree will bring it through June, but no longer through July,” says graduate engineer Klaus Körber.

Those who consciously plant bee-friendly trees and bushes, on the other hand, are making an important contribution to enable the insects to flower constancy from spring to autumn.

Körber is a long-standing expert and agricultural director at the Bavarian State Institute for Viticulture and Horticulture in Veitshöchheim, Bavaria, and has carried out a study there over several years.

Starting in 2001, an assortment of 400 tree species and varieties was planted on 10 hectares of test site for 15 years.

The main aspect of the study was the conditions of climate change with special consideration of the value of trees for bees and bumblebees.

The result is not just a recommendation and a stimulating incentive for the steadily increasing number of amateur beekeepers.

but for everyone who has a garden.

Flowers in bright purple pink

It doesn't even have to be big, even in the front yard and in the tub on the balcony, smaller, bee-friendly trees can be accommodated. The main thing is that after the onion blooms early and in addition to numerous perennials, there is also plenty of pollen and nectar. It starts in April, the rearing and reproduction phase of the bees. All fruit trees provide food here, especially apples and sweet cherries. At the same time, the picturesque rock pear (Amelanchier lamarckii) blooms, accompanied by ornamental apples, which are also suitable for front gardens. “Every crabapple that sets fruit is probably a good pasture for bees,” Körber particularly recommends the very blooming variety 'Evereste'.

Ornamental cherries also have good nectar and pollen values; in the large assortment, unfilled varieties should be preferred.

In addition, in the enormous rose family there are several species and varieties of rowan berries as well as hawthorn, medallion or the quince (Chenomeles).

The varieties with flowers in bright vermilion, dark pink or pure white are a feast for the eyes and, with a height of up to around one meter, ideal for small gardens.

The same applies to shrubs that accompany bees such as sloe, Oregon grape and the Judas tree (Cercis canadensis).

On the one hand, it is useful for animals.

On the other hand, more and more garden owners are marveling at the small tree that immigrated from North America because of its habitus with widely spreading branches and bright purple-pink flowers.

"With this trio you create valuable bee food"

The black locust is completely different, and because of its invasive reproduction, some have even eliminated it in the meantime, despite its sweet-smelling, shimmering flower clusters in white or purple.

A mistake, thinks horticultural specialist Körber, for him it stands out as one of our most important bee trees.

"The nectar contains a lot of fructose, so the honey stays liquid for a long time."

However, since locust trees are not widespread everywhere in Germany, the linden tree dominates the flowering period of the early summer season.

“With a good water supply, a large tree produces several kilograms of nectar per day,” says Körber.

The “classic human companion” is the most important bee tree in our cities and communities.

If you want to pamper bees, wild bees and bumblebees in particular, you can plant the summer linden tree that blooms first, the winter linden tree that blooms ten days later and the silver linden tree that blooms later.

“With this trio you can create valuable bee food.” And linden trees fit even in smaller gardens if “you cut them into spheres”.

Or plant the small-crowned Heinrich Linden (Tilia henryana) as a house tree.

This only blooms at the beginning of September and ends the linden tree.