I’m always looking for ways to attract more nature into the garden. We’ve bird boxes, piles of old logs around the place and have a few patches of stinging nettles (which according to the RSPB support more than 40 kinds of insects). I’ve also added some water through the introduction of a small container pond. Well, this season we’ve added to the mix by making a bee hotel.
It all started when I gave Mr F-W for Christmas a rather attractive looking bee hotel which I’d bought at Burford Garden Company.
It doesn’t look like his type of thing, if I’m honest. It’s far too tidy looking – it’s just not ‘earthy’ enough! Mr F-W is a real nature lover. He was raised on the Devon coast. He knows his birds, loves country yomps, coldwater swimming, camping and sea fishing. The bee hotel in question is very attractive but it looks like it has come from John Lewis! It looks like The Ritz of bee hotels!
Of course, he was grateful (it certainly was preferable to socks!) and he dutifully set it up this Spring. But I know he didn’t expect too much from it. However, it wasn’t long until he saw insects checking out the various holes which make up the hotel’s ‘rooms.’
Encouraged by this, Mr F-W decided one bee hotel wasn’t enough. So he has made two more, but in a far simpler way. Indeed, his technique is so ingenious that I thought I’d share it here.
Making a Bee Hotel – What you Need
- An untreated chunk of old log at least 10cm deep
- Power drill and drill bits
- Wire
- Screw
Simply take your chunk of log and drill holes in it of differing widths.
Drill about 50-75mm deep. Don’t drill all the way through.
Vary the hole widths. Bees prefer holes that are 3-5mm wide. But if you vary this, with holes in a range of 2-10mm you will attract a mix of species.
Put some screws in the back of the wood and attach the wire to them.
Hang it on a screw in a sunny spot, sheltered from the rain.
Voila – a wonderful bee hotel in minutes! Just wait for your guests to arrive!
The homemade bee hotels sit alongside the posh one. I think they all look great! (Please don’t look at the shed!!)
More about Solitary Bees
When I think of bees I usually think of honey bees in hives. However most British bees are actually solitary. According to The Wildlife Trusts there are 270 species of bees in Britain and 250 of these are solitary. The female spends most of her life househunting, searching for suitable places to nest. Some species like the red mason bee nest in holes in cliffs, in the crumbling mortar of old buildings and in hollow plant stems. Some species nest in holes in the ground, while others will look for old beetle holes.
How Solitary Bees Use a Bee Hotel
Solitary bees will check out your bee hotel in the spring. Hopefully the females will like what they see and lay their eggs inside the holes. Each egg is left with a store of pollen which the grub munches when it hatches. The egg is protected by being sealed up behind a wall of mud. It’s a bit like a ‘cell’. One hole may have several ‘cells’ in it. If all goes to plan, the young bees will emerge the following year.
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