Promoting wild bees and birds in harmony: How to do it in the garden or on the balcony
Your own garden or balcony offers a wonderful opportunity to support both wild bees and native birds. But how do a bird feeding station and a BeeHome wild bee house coexist? In this article, you'll learn how to promote both and ensure your wild bees are well protected.
Promoting Wild Bees and Birds: Is It Possible?
Promoting biodiversity in your own garden or on your balcony is a fulfilling task – but it sometimes brings with it a dilemma: Can you promote wild bees and at the same time support our native birds – for example, with a feeding station or a bird bath? The answer is clear: Yes! You don't have to choose between a BeeHome wild bee house and promoting birds.
Why Wild Bees and Birds Harmonize
The good news for anyone with a heart for BOTH wild bees AND birds: You can easily support birds with bird baths and feeding stations – even though they are higher up in the food chain than wild bees. It doesn't sound logical, but it's easy to explain: Birds are part of biodiversity and will visit your garden even if you don't offer seeds or water. Furthermore, at such feeding stations, we primarily find bird species that only occasionally catch insects in flight – and are not dangerous to mason bees during their active period. So you can safely promote both: wild bees and native bird species.
Two Simple Rules for Peaceful Coexistence
To ensure that your wild bees remain undisturbed, there are two simple rules:
- Use shallow bird baths: If wild bees fly into them, they can easily leave again. Stones or branches in the water also provide safe landing places.
- Do not place feeding stations directly next to the BeeHome: This ensures that wild bees do not get into the feeding station or unintentionally attract birds that inspect the BeeHome too closely.
New now & limited for a short time
Bird Joy in the Cold Months
Our new Birdhouse BirdSnack incl. feed block brings life into nature during winter and makes your garden a more diverse, vibrant place – even during the cold months.
For this special edition, we have equipped the BeeHome's inner box with a specially developed, solid bird feed block and an oak bird perch. This way, you can actively do something for nature even in winter and welcome a variety of birds such as robins, great tits, goldfinches, house sparrows, and serins into your garden.
Protecting your BeeHome: What to do if birds become curious?
It can happen that already sealed holes in the BeeHome suddenly open again. This might be because a bird tried to get at the cocoons. This is no cause for concern. At the entrance of the tube, the bees always leave one cell empty and do not lay an egg in this last chamber. So, if a bird has discovered the house, its beak usually cannot reach the cells containing the cocoons. In rare cases, it can happen that the house is discovered and damaged by a woodpecker. It manages to reach the cocoons with its tongue and eat them.
Effective protection for your wild bees: BeeSafe keeps birds away while your bees continue to fly undisturbed.
To optimally protect your mason bees from curious birds - and especially woodpeckers - we recommend our BeeSafe bird protection. The wind chime effectively protects your BeeHome and the nests of your mason bees from birds by acting as a deterrent through movement and light reflections. While birds give the wind chime a wide berth, the wild bees are not bothered by it. They continue to fly to their nesting tubes and simply find a way around the wind chime. Wild bees often even prefer such a slightly more inconvenient "approach path" as it offers their nests additional protection from natural enemies.
Bird Protection BeeSafe
The BeeSafe wind chime effectively protects your BeeHome and the nests of your mason bees from birds. Its movement and light reflections keep birds away, while your wild bees can still easily access their nesting tubes. Easy to assemble and efficient – for optimal and attractive protection of your wild bees.
Look forward to:
- Effective protection of your BeeHome and your mason bee nests from birds
- Easy attachment to your BeeHome (compatible with all models)
- Beautiful 3D effects from the curved slats that play in the wind
Alternatively, you can attach chicken wire approximately 3 – 5 centimeters in front of the bee house. Please make sure that the mesh has a diameter of about 3 centimeters so that the bees can fly in and out without problems.
With these simple measures, you can ensure that your garden remains a harmonious home for wild bees and birds.
How you can ensure to promote birds and wild bees simultaneously
Although birds are higher in the food chain than wild bees, you can easily promote them at the same time. By feeding the garden birds, you support them in their search for food, making them less dependent on other food sources. However, it is important to note that the feeding station must be at a distance of at least 2-3 meters from your BeeHome to protect your wild bees and offer the birds their own oasis.
