Because of the fast urbanization going on in the world, the population of bees is under severe decline.
Massive human pressure has left these bugs without a habitat and open to many risks to their survival and reduced productivity in making honey.
However, if you are a bee farmer, you can deal with this issue by using a bee hotel. A bee hotel is meant for solitary bees that occupy nests naturally, like in cracks, hollows and holes as opposed to hives.
The best part about these hotels is that they are low cost and you can even build one yourself.
Why Are Bee Hotels Important?
Here are the top benefits of constructing a bee hotel.
They Provide a Habitat for Bees
Bees are usually equated with hives, however, very few of them live in hives.
Honey bees are the type that makes hives and make up only about 15% of the bee population.
The remaining 85% are solitary bees that mostly wander from one burrow, once crack in a wood, a hollow part of wood, or even some holes (like flower stamen in plants).
Good to Do: The good old bee house will give bees a habitat, allow the bees to breed, and avoid going extinct.
They Don’t Take Up Large Spaces
There is no need to set up a bee hotel in a big area.
The biggest requires hole or other matter by which the bees can reside in the hotel.
You can also put in pot plants and flowers to get the bees to land in your garden.
These are thyme, chives, rosemary, parsley, mint, geraniums, etc.
They Are Easy to Construct
Did you know that you can create a bee hotel by connecting some drinking straws or bamboo tubes together?
Recycled wooden logs can also be great materials to use to build these.
Bees Are Useful
Your herbs, flowers, and vegetables will be pollinated when bees are buzzing around your yard transforming anything they can into food.
The more bees you have, the better your crops will grow. Win win for for you and the bees.
Solitary Bees Are Friendly
In contrast to honeybees, solitary bees are human-friendly and typically do not sting.
When they sting, their pain is milder than other species when they sting.
Even Better: These little bees travel alone, hence their name solitary. So they will never attack you like honey bees do in a swarm.
Bee Hotels Are Educational Tools
It is so entertaining to observe the bees bringing back nectar, pollen grains, and items back to a bee hotel.
This is a very hands-on way to teach your children about the diversity of nature and the behavior of insects. They will even learn about the life cycle of these insects.
Also, solitary female bees do sting but not as aggressively as honey bees. You have to attack them for them to sting you.
Some people also have allergic reactions to the stings from solitary bees. Your children should wear protective gear when taking an educational visit to a bee hotel.
How To Make A Bee Hotel
Making a bee hotel is quick and cheap.
The steps for a making a bee hotel is easy.
What will I need to make a bee hotel? You could make it out of an empty plastic water bottle that you have cut in half with the top half still intact for the nesting material.
The nesting material inside can be covered and should be placed under a shelf or roofed area facing the East to offer sunlight.
Other materials you can make a bee hotel from include:
- Bamboo tubes: stick to thin, long bamboo tubes. These will make great and cozy habitats for bees. Make sure your cut stems are no more than 15 cm high or 10 cm tall.
- Clay-packed blocks and pipes: It is quite common for soil-nesting species to use habitats that mimic the soil. For example, blue-banded beesclay-like habitats are quite common. Use concrete blocks or PVC pipes to pack in clay, and never exceed 15 cm of clay deep.
- Drilled logs: Cut blocks/logs of untreated wood into 30 cm long lengths. Drill holes into the cut end of wood into a depth of 10 cm, and they should be at least two cm apart.
- Fennel stems: Strip the foliage into small cuttings, no more than 15 cm each. You could also use grapevine, hydrangea, and lantana branches.
Additional Building Tips for Bee Hotels
When constructing a bee hotel, keep the following in mind.
- Do not use composite materials that are vulnerable to rain and water exposure. This includes cardboard, chipboards and particleboard.
- Check the unique preferences of the bees you intend to rear. You do not want to waste money on a structure that they will not find comfortable.
- A sloping roof that overhangs will be of help to the bee hotel design to keep rain water out of the house when it is wet outside, a landing strip may also be useful to include.
What Materials Make a Bad Bee Hotel?
If you don’t possess the knowledge or the time to take the DIY approach, let’s look at the materials you should avoid when purchasing a premade bee hotel.
- Bamboo tubes that are too big in diameter.
- Glass and plastic tubes as they cannot reduce moisture too well.
- No roof or a roof without a roof overhang.
- Shallow tubes (the depth needs to be at least 15 cm). In fact, some species lay female eggs at a greater depth, which means if the tubes are shorter, the likelihood of getting female bees is reduced.
- Splinters and rough edges because they will rip your bee’s wings.
- No backing board to protect the bees from moisture and wind.
Where Is the Best Place to Hang a Bee Hotel?
Location of your bee hotel?
The best location for a bee hotel is a sunny and warm location in your backyard garden.
The height is recommended to be 1 meter off the ground, but if you are tall enough, 2 meters is also fine.
Also, make sure you added a roof that will protect nests from moisture.
Have You Noticed: If you want to know if your bees have visited and left the hotel, you can check the openings. You should see some mud/herbaceous material, signifying that she has laid eggs.
How Do You Maintain a Bee Hotel?
Importantly, community bees remain the most active in the summer and spring seasons.
The adults are typically least active during the fall and winter season, which is the best time for your bee hotel seasonal maintenance.
Cleaning out the bee hotel is an important maintenance practice.
Be sure to carry out a large cleaning operation at least once a year and be sure to check all pupae before you place it for release.
Without cleaning the activities you can contribute to the risk of:
- parasitic infestations
- even death of your bees
After the bees have vacated, disappear the nesting materials and replace with materials and timing ways to leave it to cool down and get dry to leave temps correct for the next season of breeding.
Some birds, such as woodpeckers, may damage to your bee hotel in an effort to feed off your insects.
If you find yourself in this situation, install a wire mesh over the hotel entrance.
Be sure to leave a bit more than an inch of coverage from the hole openings as to allow your bees to still move freely.
Finally, you are going to want to ensure that your reeds are of the highest quality in indefinite use for sustainable management of the bee hotel.
You will need to validate:
- The dimensions are proper,
- There aren’t any splinters on the inner surface,
- They possess good moisture distribution,
- At least one end is sealed.
When using plant reeds, make sure to cut cleanly to avoid cracks and splintering.
In place of drilled wood, reeds and rolled papers are the better choice since they can be replaced easily which decreases the chances of pathogenesis and disease infections.
Are Bee Hotels Effective?
It’s obvious, bees hotels are a great idea, but only if they are built with the right materials and maintained properly.
The bees will prosper, and they will offer a wide array of benefits frequently cited in bee literature, while your sometimes hard and dirty work will be contributing to environmental protection.
On the other hand, the challenge is if you create a house for too much bees, this may become a hindrance to your farming objectives:
- When too many of these organisms are too close together, the possibility of spreading disease is heightened.
- Another flaw of bee hotels, especially larger version, is that, the majority of dead plant debris, and other waste, is cleaned out when spring arrives.
During this time frame, cavity-nesting bees typically do not have a nest site.
You should always check the project size for this reason.
How Do I Attract Bees to My Bee Hotel?
Creating a bee hotel is easy, but the challenge is creating a bee habitat and encouraging the bees to stay.
Here are some strategies you can use to help keep them near your farm.
- Avoid using pesticides – if you have to use them, use organic options, as chemicals drive bees away.
- Make sure your garden has flowers blooming at each stage of the year. Have some bias when it comes to blue flowers, white flowers, and yellow flowers instead of orange and red options, as bees respond more positively to them.
- Put a few dead plants scattered around your farm, as some bees will use them to nest.
Wrapping Up
If you have a fondness for beekeeping or environmental conservation, you’ll find building a bee hotel to be a smart choice.
They are simple to build, and you do not need a skilled employee to do it for you.
Lastly, remember to keep things clean in the construction of the bee hotel.
If you don’t, your investment in a bee hotel will be useless, even though you buy the best pre-made ready options.