The name ‘the Hortus BeeTotem’ embodies a vital new alliance — where botanical gardens reach beyond their traditional borders and sow life into the urban fabric. By creating refuges for wild bees and their plants together with neighbourhood residents, they inspire communities to become stewards of biodiversity — before it vanishes irreversibly.

The Mignonette Yellow-face Bee is also a RefuBee and depends on both food and shelter. The BeeTotem and BeeHotel are therefore specifically designed for this bee. For the Reseda Masked Bee, this means an above-ground BeeHotel with holes 10 cm deep and 3–5 mm in diameter, completely waterproof, and oriented toward the morning sun in spring. Made entirely from recycled materials, it is also remarkably sustainable.

Although tiger worms typically produce rich, fertile soil, Reseda thrives in nutrient-poor, calcareous soils. This contrast creates a tension within the BeeTotem. Still, the worms indirectly contribute to the quality of pollen and nectar, as their compost stimulates microbial life at the soil level and may enhance the scent of flowers. This results in a subtle synergy between scarcity and abundance — a collaboration in service of biodiversity.

The Mignonette Yellow-face Bee is highly dependent on specific plants for food. It is essential that these plants are grown around the BeeTotem to support the bee. Equally important is that host families and their neighbours grow these plants in their backyards or on balconies. In this way, a local network — the clan of the Large Yellow-face Bee, begins to take shape, with people actively helping to prevent the extinction of this species.

In urban environments where humans often strive for order and tidiness, it is important to realise that nature can thrive when we leave parts of it untouched and allow for some wildness. This requires a shift in mindset — and practical adjustments. The plants needed by the Large Yellow-face Bee grow best in dry, calcareous, and nutrient-poor soil. This can be achieved simply by mixing crushed seashells, eggshells, or limestone into the soil where they are planted.