June 12, 2023, 1:23 pm | Read time: 3 minutes
The voting for the Garden Animal of the Year 2023 took place from March 30 to June 11. In addition to the garden bumblebee, other candidates included the earthworm, blackcap, rose chafer, swallowtail, and the weasel.
With 40.4 percent of the votes, the garden bumblebee emerged victorious. It “literally flew past the competition,” writes the Heinz Sielmann Foundation. The garden bumblebee received a total of 4,413 out of 10,933 votes in the election for the Garden Animal of the Year 2023.
The Election for Garden Animal of the Year 2023
After the blue carpenter bee was named Garden Animal of the Year last year, this year it is once again a wild bee–the garden bumblebee. “The strong vote for the garden bumblebee this year shows us that many people are now aware of the importance of bumblebees as pollinators of plants. Bumblebees often evoke special sympathies because they are fluffy and considered peaceful. But the decline in insect populations, which threatens many bumblebee species, also seems to be increasingly on people’s minds,” explains Florian Amrhein, spokesperson for the Heinz Sielmann Foundation.
Garden Animal of the Year 2025 Has Been Chosen
Underestimated Suffering–The Dark Side of Bumblebee Breeding for Tomato Cultivation
How Is the Garden Animal of the Year Chosen?
The Heinz Sielmann Foundation has been seeking the Garden Animal of the Year for the 13th time. A total of six candidates were available for selection. Those who wanted to cast their vote could participate online until June 11, 2023.
With the election for Garden Animal of the Year, the Heinz Sielmann Foundation aims to highlight “that natural gardens, balconies, backyards, or green spaces are valuable refuges for various animals.” Unlike many other elections, the Garden Animal of the Year is decided not by a panel of experts, but by the public.
Related: How can you attract bumblebees to your garden or balcony?
What Makes the Garden Bumblebee Special?
The garden bumblebee is not unknown, even if many do not know its name. It is one of the common bumblebee species in Germany and Europe. It is also a true survivor. The 2023 Garden Animal can inhabit various environments and use different plant families as a food source.
“With its extremely long proboscis, the garden bumblebee can dive up to two centimeters deep into flowers, reaching the nectar of particularly deep blossoms. This makes it an important pollinator of many wild and cultivated plants,” according to the foundation. The garden bumblebee can cover up to two kilometers on its foraging flights, making it one of the most enduring long-distance flyers in the bumblebee realm, it further states.