Monday, April 18, 2016

Drilling Nesting Blocks for a Bee Hotel

Last spring I noticed small flying insects going in and out of a little hole on the pedestal of our weather station’s solar panel. After taking several pictures, I identified the small insect as a bee, most likely an Orchard Mason Bee, a type of solitary bee that nest in holes or tubes.

Cutting the driftwood blocks to size.
This year I decided to make the bees a more permanent home, a Bee Hotel. I started out by using an old birdhouse that was no longer needed because John built us nice new ones. I took the front wall off and glued all of the joints. A new coat of green paint on the roof really spruced it up.

I cut four sections of driftwood and Wayne drilled the 5/16-inch holes for me. The holes only go part way through, creating tubes that the bees like to nest in. The larger stick got six holes, the rest four each.

Wayne helped me drill the holes part way through the blocks.

I’ve already seen Mason Bees flying around the cabin. Hopefully they’ll pick the nice new home this year. We placed it on the south facing porch post right under the solar panel they used last year. Maybe they’ll get the hint.

The Bee Hotel mounted facing south right under their old solar panel home.

There’s lots of information about building bee hotels online. The one I used was from The Pollinator Garden at www.foxleas.com. It’s a British site, but the eleven page guide was quite detailed with illustrations.

Making a bee hotel helps your garden and the native bee population at the same time. Do you have one? How is it working for you? -- Margy

14 comments:

  1. Hello, the bee hotel is a great idea. It looks nice too. Happy Monday, enjoy your new week ahead!

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  2. What a neat simple idea!

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  3. Good morning, stopping back to say thank you for linking up and sharing your post. Have a happy week!

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  4. Isn't this fun?! I bought one last year. Not as nice as yours.

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  5. I hope they use it - I have lots of bees and a ton of wasps which I could do without. Buddy got stung last year on his foot - not a happy puppy

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  6. A worthy, wonderful project!

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  7. We started with one bee hotel and now have three-one for the orchard, one for the heritage trees in the meadow and one for the kitchen garden. We got earwigs in one last year but found them early and kicked them out before the bees checked in.

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    1. I hate earwigs. They remind me of camping as a kid and finding them in the food storage cabinets they used to have at the end of campground picnic tables. - Margy

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  8. A great project to use. But would be better in someone else's yard as I am terrified of bees.

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    1. I hate wasps, but for me bees are okay. - Margy

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  9. Replies
    1. Using my old birdhouse made it really easy. I've got two more so I think I'll start making another one for next year for a hotel expansion. - Margy

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  10. Thanks everyone for stopping by and commenting on my Critter post. - Margy

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We welcome your comments and questions. - Wayne and Margy