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