What is a bee fortress and what is it good for?

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Together with Bloomon, we established a bee fortress on June 20, 2024, at The Unbound Amsterdam. Jakob Wenzler and Rens Spanjaard are creating an edible landscape here. Bees, butterflies, worms, and humans can all enjoy snacking here! This new bee fortress provides an ideal nesting place for many different wild bees that prefer to nest in the ground. There is so much to learn at a bee fortress. For example, you can see sand bees, grass bees, and common carder bees going about their business. And all of this up close.

Create your own bee fortress

Do you want to help the wild bees? You can also create your own bee fortress. The Pollinators can help you with that! Interested? Contact us

This is what you need to know before creating a bee fortress

Bees love warmth, so it’s best to place a bee fortress in a sunny location. The fortress should also be protected from strong winds. Choose a sheltered spot, such as near a hedge or a brushwood fence. It’s especially beneficial for pollinators if you create the fortress in a half-moon shape. This helps retain warmth and creates a microclimate, which in turn attracts other insects.

Close to the flowers

For a successful bee fortress, wild bees within a radius of 100 meters need to find sufficient nectar and pollen. Therefore, it’s important to have plenty of flowering native herbs and shrubs nearby. This ensures that pollinators have enough food.

Bee Fortress Maintenance

Wild bees prefer it when the fortress remains somewhat tidy. Therefore, try to keep the fortress as free of weeds as possible. A good method is to clear half of the fortress of weeds once a year, and the other half the following year. February is the best time for this.

Let’s get it started

You can create a mini bee fortress by filling an apple crate, pot, or container with a mixture of sand and a bit of clay or loam, and placing it on its side. This allows bees to nest underneath. By drilling some 8 mm diameter holes in the walls in advance, bees will feel more at home sooner

Do you want to go bigger? The Pollinators can help you with creating a bee fortress.

In honor of the Bio-Bouquet, we created this bee fortress in collaboration with Bloomon. The bouquet can be ordered here.