The apprenticeship hive and the wall of wild bees
Bees belong to a large order of insects. Together with wild bees, wasps and bumblebees, they play a significant role for humankind and nature through their role in flower pollination.
The hive at the House of Nature was established for educational purposes. Children and other visitors can observe, safely behind glass, the complex organisation of honeybees and the seasonal work of the beekeeper. A bee colony can be followed easily on the display panel whilst other colonies live in the hive and build cells.
Information is available on the 3 castes of bees, their social behaviour, their dance language, cell construction and honey production. Children can discover the important role played by bees in plant pollination and seed production of useful plants, and especially of fruit trees.
A group of young friends of bees (8 to 14 years old) have formed the BeieclubSumSum which has been meeting regularly since 2011 at the House of Nature. The Club helps our beekeeper and supports other projects concerning bees and honey.
Natural cell building
Maintaining bee colonies through the natural process of cell building encourages the preservation of their natural instincts as well as their way of life. With natural cell building bees do not have access to the artificial wall. The construction of cells results from the highly social process organised by the wax producing worker bees.
Wild bees
Children and adults can observe and learn about wild bees with the wild bee wall at the House of Nature. These solitary bees are harmless to humankind: they have neither a queen nor a colony to protect and they lay their eggs alone via an ovipositor. They have no interest in stinging as this would be suicidal with the accompanying loss of ensuring the next generation. Furthermore their stingers are so thin that they would unlikely pierce our skin. It is possible to find on the wild bee wall at least 58 different species of bees and wasps, laying their eggs on the wall, spending the night and even hibernating.
Who are the wild bees?
Besides the semi-domestic honeybees, which occasionally return to the wild state and build their cells in branches or settle in uninhabited cavities (for example cavities dug and previously inhabited by the Great Spotted Woodpecker (Dendrocopos major), there are around 300 other bee species in Luxembourg. Included with these wild bees are the bumblebees, the genus Anthophora, the genus Nomada, etc. They can be distinguished by their colour, size and body shape. There are social bees, solitary bees and parasites. Many species nest on the ground, others in dead wood, empty snail shells, vegetable stalks and in dry walls; others nest in cracks, stones, tree trunks and branches. Depending on the species they build with wax, salivary gland secretions, resins, clay, leaves, wood particles or small stones. All bees feed on pollen and nectar. The range of flowers for nectar collection is very large whilst that for pollen is generally more limited.
Threatened bees etc?
Bees, butterflies and other pollinators are suffering from the loss of a large part of their food base.
Early and frequent mowing means fewer meadow plants reach flowering. Once rape, fruit blossom and dandelions have died back there is a life threatening drop in food supply. Add to this the use of insecticides and herbicides.
The "Flouer a Gaart an der Blei" project has joined the German "Netzwerk Bluhende Landschaft" www.bluehende-landshaft.de. The House of Nature is dedicated to the improvement of the plant, insect and other animals populations making up the diversity of the countryside and biotopes.
The uniformity of fields and agrarian areas together with the degradation of the biodiversity must be enriched again with flowering plants. The "Flouer a Gaart an der Blei" initiative does not wish to limit its interests purely to insects but is also interested in the improvement of the quality of life of animals and humans. Hence if parcels of mono-cultivated land could be returned to areas of flowering plants, we would have agriculture that does not just address itself to human's needs.
For further information on private individuals, farmers, bees, butterflies, etc please contact our nature advisory service.
In Luxembourg the project is supported by: AAT Garten und Teichfreunde, Amicale Carnica a.s.b.l., ASTA, Beiestand Huelmes, BioLabel, Biologesch Statioun SIAS – Naturzenter, d'Haus vun der Natur, Demeter Bond Lëtzebuerg, Fédération des Unions d'Apiculteurs du Grand-Duché du Luxembourg, Fondation Hëllef fir d'Natur, Kraidergaart Wanseler, Lëtzebuerger Natur- a Vulleschutzliga, LNVL – Sektioun Stad, Liga CTF – Gaart an Heem, Natura, Naturmusée, Parc naturel de la Haute-Sûre, parc naturel de l’Our, spécialistes des abeilles sauvages.
The splendour of flowers all year round
Following an idea of a student at the Lycée technique agricole and the support of staff at natur&ëmwelt and the BeieClubSumSum, a project began in 2011 to produce a calendar of melliferous flora in the form of a flower outside our own hive.
The calendar is defined by a flowerbed containing a wide selection of flowering plants, (herbs, bushes, etc).The plants were chosen to provide the longest flowering period to offer the largest variety of nectar and pollen for hymenoptera such as bees and bumblebees as well as the solitary bees visiting for its rich nectar sources.
