Somewhere here Goethe's mother harvested apples.

That is why the Palmengarten created a Goethe Garden between the Tropicarium and the Subantarctic House as early as 1999: with old apple varieties such as the Goldparmane.

Four yellow signs are now emblazoned behind the apple trees, three of which are integrated into a four meter long insect nesting wall from the workshops in the palm garden with a green roof.

Yellow is the color of the Palmengarten's main theme "blossom and pollinator ecology" with the first module Butterfly House and the now redesigned Goethe Garden.

This second element is part of the research project “Urban lifestyles and the valorization of biodiversity” (SLInBio) at the Institute for Social-Ecological Research (ISOE).

In addition to the Palmengarten, the cooperation partners also include the Senckenberg Institute.

Claudia Schulke

Freelance author in the Rhein-Main-Zeitung.

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There is still nothing to be seen of blood-red cranesbill, ball leeks or creeping restharrow in the six raised beds, including a “sandarium” for sand bees.

But the new insect paradise announced cautiously.

"The first animals are already on their way," said Rosemarie Heilig, Head of the Environment and Climate Department, and as if called upon, a honey bee came over from the Botanical Garden and sat on the mask on the arm of a listener.

"Without bees there is no Äppler," said the Green politician.

Without pollination there is no apple harvest.

Palmengarten director Katja Heubach speaks of a "practical project" on the behavior of the city's citizens in the context of the loss of species and biodiversity: "For us it's not just about beauty."

physique of wild bees

However, this nest wall is not made for honey bees.

The project manager Kerstin Reifenrath, biologist and department head of education in the Palmengarten, and the botanist Torsten Collet know that.

The nest tubes made of bamboo, reed and pithed elder are intended to be used by solitary bees for reproduction.

However, the diameter is too large for most tubes.

The holes in the drilled hardwood underneath, on the other hand, fit better with the delicate physique of the wild bees, of which there are up to 570 species in Germany, such as mason bees and fur bees.

The free wooden compartments under the nest wall are intended to serve the Green School of the Palmengarten for educational offers.

This is where visitors should learn how to attract insects to their gardens, terraces, balconies and window sills.

In order to stop insects from dying, one must above all know the ecological relationships between flowering plants and insects.

The yellow information boards explain this.

About the ecosystem "orchard" as on the Berger Hang.

A Marbled White, as shown, can also be seen next door in the Botanical Garden when it nibbles on the Heilziest, a plant that fits on every balcony, in late summer.

Scented Nettles and Ear Speedwell

Further panels provide information about the “diversity of bees” and “nesting aids for wild bees”.

It should be remembered that pith-bearing branches should not be attached horizontally as here, but vertically.

So what should a “Balcony for Insects” look like?

On the fourth panel, a bumblebee climbs over a hyssop flower.

She wouldn't spurn scented nettles and speedwells either.

Soon the first bumble bee queens will fly low over the ground to find a nesting site for their newly founded colony.

They are happy about Spotted Lungwort.

But does the Palmengarten also have abandoned vole nests for the bumblebees?

Because 75 percent of wild bees, which also include bumblebees, do not nest in hollow plant stems, but in the ground.

"In the Goethe Garden, our guests learn what insects need to feel good," says Heubach.

Guided tours on the subject and cultural programs will also take place here.

When its ancient apple trees blossom, visitors so sensitized can see for themselves that there is no cider without a pollinator.