Kaufbeuren - Actually, the soldiers from the technical training center at the Kaufbeuren Air Base are responsible for the really big bumblebees of the Air Force. From now on, however, the extensive area also accommodates the very little aviators: at the initiative of the site management, two wild bee hotels were built there in a fallow clearing. And yes, on the day of the inauguration there was already a lot of air traffic.
The first nest boxes are already closed, says Sarah Götzenberger, who is active for the German armed forces in matters of ecology and environmental protection and who helped plan the nesting aids.
This means that the first residents have already moved in, bees, bumblebees, butterflies, hatchlings and flies are buzzing around the surrounding, natural meadow.
Children are invited to sow the forage of tomorrow for the wild bees and their relatives on a freshly dug piece of earth.
With enthusiasm, Paul, Hannah, Nils and Luana distribute the selected seeds on the prepared area.
From the bees' point of view
According to the commander and senior officer, Colonel Martin Langer, attempts have been made to "properly" set everything up on the spot.
"Correctly" from the point of view of the wild bee, he adds with a wink.
Because the Bundeswehr's mission is also to make its contribution to environmental protection and to support biodiversity wherever possible.
Sarah Götzenberger adds that almost all Bavarian locations are home to biotopes for toads, toads and other living beings.
Ensure sustainability
Ensuring sustainability is also a long-running issue for the Bundeswehr, said Colonel Langer. Reading Maja Lunde's bestseller “The History of Bees” encouraged him to do something for the wild bees on this approximately 200 square meter area. And the useful pollinators are always easy to care for. In the future, you will have the choice of nesting in reeds, tree trunks or concrete and raising their larvae.
With the opening of the wild bee hotels, Colonel Langer is also deliberately putting an end to the so-called bee dispute between a Kaufbeur hobby beekeeper and the Bundeswehr at the air base. As the
messenger
reported, the construction of a ten-meter-wide plank wall had to stop the flight of two neighboring honey bee colonies in the spring and protect runners on this side of the air base. This had provoked the displeasure of the garden owner on the other side. Both parties quickly found a compromise and the fence was dismantled again. Peace and quiet have returned. The wild bees in their clearing may not care, they themselves are regarded as a model of peacefulness anyway.
