Image: VOLKER Weihbold
The buzzing of the bees searching for nectar can be clearly heard in Upper Austria’s gardens as early as spring. In order to maintain the food supply for the insects in the long term, the flower strip campaign of the bee center is to be intensified in cooperation with the machine ring of Upper Austria.
When fruit trees or rapeseed as nectar donors have completed their flowering phase in midsummer and the herbs are also increasingly disappearing due to increased mowing, the food supply for the bees and insects visiting the flowers is significantly reduced, says Agricultural Minister Michaela Langer-Weninger (VP): “The construction and the Global warming is reducing the food supply. Flower strips offer a valuable alternative offer here until the end of September with different plant species and with different flowering times.”
Various flower mixtures
How this flower strip is best composed depends on the nutrient content of the soil and the lifespan of the flower strip. “Not every flowering mixture is suitable for every location. That’s why four different mixtures with certified seeds were designed,” says Langer-Weninger.
While the flowering area on nutrient-rich arable sites should only exist over the summer months, private individuals, communities and companies can also create a long-term food supply for bees with the right mix. With proper care, this can last for several years without reseeding.
The effect of flower strips on wild bees, bumblebees and honey bees has been checked in a wild bee monitoring in St. Florian since 2020. Last year, 52 species were found here, more than half of which were wild bees, 31 percent honey bees and 17 percent bumblebees. “A fifth of the wild bee species native to Upper Austria could be found in the flowering areas. A good result for the flowering strips as a biodiversity hotspot,” says Langer-Weninger.
Source: Nachrichten
