Properly planning an insect hotel - tips wanted

We attended a lecture by a bee scientist on Saturday. Some species like to bore their nests into steep clay walls. A clay area could therefore be helpful. Furthermore, she advised against drilling into heartwood – as is often seen. The wood cracks, becomes leaky, and turns into a death trap. Deburring is very important – I remembered that only really sharp drilling tools should be used. One participant reported that he stretches a small wire fence in front of the bee hotel; previously, his bee hotel had rather been a food station for wasps. However, crucial for a functioning bee hotel is that the bees also find food nearby – so there should be species-appropriate flowers around it.

how big is the house now in total?

Are there still ladybugs or butterflies left - I haven’t read any information about that yet.

Butterflies: almost no species overwinter here - small tortoiseshell, peacock butterfly, and brimstone are the best known. Many overwinter as caterpillars/chrysalises or fly to warmer places. That might change with climate change. But those that stay then sit on branches or in leaf piles.

Ladybugs: in groups in wall cracks, leaf piles, rafters, etc.

It would also be important for the bees to be able to change the tubes regularly, otherwise there is a constant risk of mites. So the wooden blocks should be able to be put in the oven once a year or use cardboard tubes that can be disposed of. That’s why oven-friendly sizes are produced.

Please DO NOT!!

There are species that make their tubes quite early in the year, and some that do so late. If you put such a block in the oven, you become a killer. Well, at least the work and good intention were for nothing.

Small boxes/blocks can be put, for example, in very early spring into a cardboard box/container with an exit hole. Then all larvae can hatch, but it will not be newly inhabited. And then when it is empty you can clean the part.

You can also color the inhabited tubes so that next year you can see where something emerged and what is dead.

There is a water source in the form of an old wine barrel next door. It stands directly on the cistern, where a hand pump with a lever should be placed.

Please remember the escape aid for animals that have fallen in. Or put a flat floating island in so that insects can also reach the water without drowning.

Well, and what do I do with the remaining 2 floors? I’m still a bit clueless there. ops:

Me too, show a photo of how it looks

So the hotel is 1.80m high – simply because the beams were that long and we didn’t want to cut anything off unnecessarily. I’ll take photos as soon as we set it up and I have time. Sorry, that might take a little while, one anniversary is following another at the moment.

Ok, so I’ll be careful with the cleaners to make sure there are no casualties.

Of course, there are stones and branches inside the barrel. It is only a 1/4 barrel, so not very high, allowing you to quickly reach the surface.

We also often have the blue carpenter bee here in the summer. I read that they gnaw 30cm finger-thick holes in wood and then nest there. That would be the highlight if such a big bee moved in with us.

We also often have the blue carpenter bee in our area during summer. I read that they gnaw 30cm finger-thick holes in wood and then nest there. That would be the highlight if such a bumblebee moved in with us.

I'm keeping my fingers crossed for you, even though the 30 cm is a bit of an exaggeration!

So. The basic framework is in place. And as you can see, a big beetle or something has already settled in.

I have now started inserting the first tubes. They are made of cardboard and glued on the back with plaster. The wood wool is only meant to further block the draft from behind and to spruce things up a bit. I mixed in a few branches in between to give it some structure and to make it easier for the bees to find their "hole" again. As you can see, this is just a beginning. The drilling is already in progress (phew!) – a few cherry wood logs will be added. I also ordered a lot of bamboo sticks. I would like to add them as well. Actually, they are too big, but maybe I can attract the blue carpenter bee. She was already checking it out yesterday... almost "flew me over." That would be cool.