{"id":1780,"date":"2017-08-19T19:57:29","date_gmt":"2017-08-19T18:57:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.urbanbees.co.uk\/blog_1\/?p=1780"},"modified":"2018-08-21T10:18:21","modified_gmt":"2018-08-21T09:18:21","slug":"1780","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.urbanbees.co.uk\/blog_1\/?p=1780","title":{"rendered":"DIY Bee Hotel"},"content":{"rendered":"

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\"\"<\/a>Now’s the ideal time to make a bee hotel for solitary bees. <\/a> Wooden bee hotels are easy to make if you’re good with a saw and nails (which I’m not). You can also buy them in garden centres. avis<\/a> But it’s easy to make a more simple type of bee hotel with an old water bottle.<\/p>\n

There are more than 200 different species<\/a> of solitary bees. All are vital pollinators. Many are cavity nesting, so they need dark holes in which to lay their eggs in the spring onwards. <\/a> They nest alone, but often next door to each. They rarely sting. Red mason bees (Osmia bicornis), blue mason bees (Osmia caerulescens) and Leafcutter bees (Megachile centuncularis) are the most common solitary bees you\u2019ll be helping by putting up a bee hotel.<\/p>\n

For our simple bee hotel, you\u2019ll need <\/strong>String, or garden twine; a plastic drinks bottle; bamboo tubes between 4mm to 10mm, but mainly 7-8mm in diameter; a scalpel; a small hack saw if you\u2019re going to cut the bamboo (You can buy it pre-cut here<\/a>). It takes a long time to saw 50 pieces of bamboo!<\/p>\n

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How to make your solitary bee hotel <\/strong>Cut off the neck off the bottle with the scalpel so it measures about 16cm long. Make two small holes equal distance apart along the length of the plastic bottle. Thread the twine through allowing enough length to make a loop for hanging up. If you are cutting the bamboo, use a hack saw and cut to 15 cm. Avoid any nodules. Make sure the bamboo canes are hollow throughout including both ends.<\/p>\n

Tightly pack your 15 cm tubes into the plastic bottle (you want them to be protected from the rain so ensure they\u2019re not sticking out), so that they don\u2019t fall out. You many need to push some smaller twigs or plant stems in between the tubes to wedge them in.<\/p>\n

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Where to locate your bee hotel <\/strong>A warm wall (south or south west facing), sheltered from the wind, 1 metre or more, off the ground. <\/a> You don\u2019t want the hotels to be shaded by overhanging trees or other vegetation, or to sway around. Suspend it with a slight tilt so the rain runs off the bottle and not into the open tubes. I’ve wedged this one into some trellis and attached the twine to a branch above.<\/p>\n

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We also use ready-made cylindrical bee hotels, which come with cardboard tubes lined with paper. Here, we have attached a number under the eaves of our south facing garden shed. We’ve also located them on corporate roof terraces alongside bee-friendly flowers<\/a>.<\/p>\n

When to put it up <\/strong> End of March or early April, then you will hopefully attract solitary bees that are newly emerged, have mated and are looking for somewhere to lay their eggs, like this one in the photo.<\/p>\n

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Bed and Breakfast <\/strong>Solitary bees are more likely to check-in to your hotel if there\u2019s also food and drink. So ensure you grow some of the following plants in spring\/early summer:<\/p>\n