TABLE 6 - BY THE WATER
We are here in a water protection area. Just a few meters away, a natural spring has been tapped – at the Floriani Well, you can conveniently refill your drinking bottle with refreshing Tyrolean mountain spring water! The Alps and our high plateau are rich in such natural springs and wild waters. They are a sought-after habitat for countless species of animals, plants, and insects – elsewhere, one often has to travel long distances for fresh water.
Yes, you read that right: Our most important natural treasure, water, must also be consciously protected. Otherwise, human pollutants like industrial waste, fertilizers, or wastewater enter the cycle and poison the environment. Or a large new power plant dries up the small streams. In the end, healthy waters are important not only for (wild) bees, beneficial insects, and us humans, but for all life on Earth.
Collect water like a wild bee!
"Fly" to the well, take a sip of water, and "fly" back to this table.
How many steps do you think you just took for your "water flight"? For clean drinking water, the hardworking bees often have to fly several hundred meters for every "sip"!
THE QUIET GARDENERS
Solitary Bees
Solitary, that is, solitary living bee species, include, for example, sand, masonry, and wood bees. They nest in sandy soils, walls, dead wood, and much more. This lifestyle distinguishes them from bumblebees or the eusocial honeybee.
Bee Riddle
Do you know what these bees and beneficial insects look like?
THE EASILY AGITATED
Tree Bumblebee
– Bombus hypnorum –
- Characteristics: hairy, somewhat "plump", short head, brown thorax, abdomen white-haired at the end, males 14 to 16 mm, females 8 to 18 mm, queens 17 to 20 mm in size
- Habitat: found in open forests, at forest edges, in gardens and parks, nests above ground in old bird nests, wall and rock crevices, barns, and attics
- Behavior: "Normal" bumblebees are peaceful – females only sting in extreme danger. Tree bumblebees, however, are very easily agitated – a glance at the nest is therefore not advisable! They are still very social, living in summer colonies of 80 to 400 bumblebees in size.
- Observation Tip: not picky when choosing flowers, particularly fond of comfrey, lungwort, or snakehead, important pollinators – can fly from as low as 5 °C
- Observation Time: March to August
Bumblebees are important pollinators; they fly at temperatures as low as 5 °C.
THE RELIABLE
Common Mason Bee
– Heriades truncorum –
- Characteristics: 6 mm long, almost completely black, sparsely haired, a genus of mason bees, found everywhere, up to 1,600 m in height
- Habitat: prefers to live alone (solitary), at forest edges, in traditional orchards, gardens, and settlements
- Way of life: Nest tubes are found in dead wood (old fence posts, stems, and straws). Cavities from the previous year are reused after cleaning. The completed nest is sealed with resin, small stones, or plant fibers.
- Observation tip: on composite flowers (eliantus, thistles, ragwort, chamomile, tansy, and yarrow), also in nesting aids
- Observation period: June to October
THE SLIM
Spotted Longhorn Beetle
– Rutpela maculata –
- Characteristics: 14 to 20 mm long, wings yellow with black spots and stripes, antennae nearly as long as the body and curved backward
- Habitat: open areas in forests, breeding site, and larval development mainly in areas with dead wood
- Life cycle: Egg-laying occurs on decaying tree trunks of deciduous trees and shrubs like birches, oaks, or hawthorns. The larvae create deep tunnels in decaying hardwood. After several molts, the larvae pupate, and as freshly emerged beetles, they set off on their journey outside. Longhorn beetles are connoisseurs – they feed on nectar and pollen, just like wild bees!
- Observation tip: especially on "umbellifers" (e.g., forest angelica or meadow chervil)
- Observation time: June to August
THE UNCOMPLICATED
Gray Sand Bee
– Andrena cineraria –
- Characteristics: mostly black, only the thorax gray with a black transverse band, females 15 mm, males 13 mm, leg collectors due to hairy legs
- Habitat: forest edges, sand and gravel pits, as well as inhabited areas such as gardens and parks
- Behavior: When choosing a nesting site, they are not particularly demanding. They live solitary in self-dug earth nests, often with several hundred nests side by side. Nest entrances at the surface are closed in the evening (when rain is imminent or disturbances occur).
- Observation Tip: not picky about forage plants, often found on wild roses, heather, dandelions
- Observation Period: March to May