Guide about wild bees as crop pollinators

Team:

Prof. Dr. Alexandra-Maria Klein

Dr. Felix Fornoff 

Duration:

 April 2019 -  Mai  2022

Funding:

Stiftung Naturschutzfond Baden Württemberg

The aim of this project is to develop a guide that provides information on the most common wild bee species which found on cultivated plants in Germany. The guide is intended to enable simple species identification and to show the connection between harvest and wild bees. Furthermore, the ecological demands of wild bees should be presented and should be shown the promotion opportunities for their habitats. The conservation and promotion of wild bee habitats as vicarious species helps to protect many plants and insect species and thus to increase biodiversity in gardens and agricultural landscapes.

The guide is intended for farmers, horticulturists, horticultural individuals and students and should be published as a book and also as an information app. The reader should be encouraged to take nature conservation measures with the motivation to secure his own income. In Baden-Württemberg, in particular, fruit and vegetable cultivation in the Lake Constance region and on the Upper Rhine is a key economic and land use factor. It is therefore particularly important to develop an understanding of the importance of wild bees as part of nature and the agricultural landscape.