Advice on making a bee hotel?

[Student Bee]

Hi!

I'm a student at a uni in London and part of a group which managed to recently convince the uni to give us a little bit of green space to grow plants and do other nature stuff in. There are plans to put on our own nature-themed workshops and one of the students suggested doing one where we make bee hotels. Can you give me any advice on making bee hotels please, especially regarding any things to not do?
Thank you so much!

 

[Erichalfbee]

Hi and welcome.
Your best bet is to join this group and ask there. They are a mine of information
https://www.facebook.com/groups/1590641777855221/permalink/3149548818631168/?fs=e&s=cl

 

[Erichalfbee]

Sorry about the scribbles but the link does work.

 

[Student Bee]

Hi and welcome.
Your best bet is to join this group and ask there. They are a mine of information
https://www.facebook.com/groups/1590641777855221/permalink/3149548818631168/?fs=e&s=cl

Hi, thank you for the link. I'm currently on a social media break, do you have any other resources that you can link me to?

 

[Erichalfbee]

The woodland trust is an excellent source if accurate information so start there then hit Google
https://www.woodlandtrust.org.uk/blog/2020/04/how-to-build-a-bee-hotel/

 

[Student Bee]

Thank you Erichalfbee!

 

[Erichalfbee]

Thank you Erichalfbee!

Good luck. It sounds an exciting project. You can learn all about solitary bees. You need to get a move on and you might get some leaf cutter bees.

 

[Anduril]

I've seen bees in residence when the holes are the diameter of a standard bic biro.

 

[Nottslass]

was watching leaf cutting bees yesterday at my allotment x

 

[Furer]

Hi!

I'm a student at a uni in London and part of a group which managed to recently convince the uni to give us a little bit of green space to grow plants and do other nature stuff in. There are plans to put on our own nature-themed workshops and one of the students suggested doing one where we make bee hotels. Can you give me any advice on making bee hotels please, especially regarding any things to not do?
Thank you so much!

Hi Student bee,
I hope you have fun making your Bee hotel. even a tree stump will do, but the holes normally used are 8mm and 10mm. This is a nice observation hotel and strips down for cleaning, no matter what method you use, such as drilling holes, these need to be cleaned out every year ready for new bees to lay in, you can't just make it and forget about it.
https://beeinformed.org/2013/05/06/solitary-bee-observation-hives/

 

[Briar]

Our BKA had a talk on non-honeybees a while back. The speaker's recomendations for bee hotels were to supply various different sized holes so as to suit different sized bees, and also to be aware that predatory wasps can drill through the sides to lay eggs in the larvae, so he didn't like the type you see made out of bamboo tubes as the bamboo walls are thin enough to allow that to happen, he preferred a simple block of wood with a few holes drilled.

 

[Nottslass]

This is what I made at my allotment from an old pallet a couple years ago it’s well used with bees and bugs, may give you some idea x

 

[Pembroke]

Here's a slightly more commercialised version of bee hotels that you might find useful? https://www.masonbees.co.uk/ they claim their method protects red mason bees from predation, but there is a commercial side to their operation too.