"House/Hotel Design
The first thing you'll have to do is design the house. It can be as simple or elaborate as you'd like it to be. While there are no limits to design, there are some basic rules to follow when building the structure of a house:
Wood Houses: Natural, untreated wood is best. If you want to paint the house, make sure you allow plenty of time, about a month, for the paint to cure because the smell of wet paint or stain can repel bees. To promote sustainability, consider using recycled or waste wood. Avoid composite materials such as chipboard or particleboard, as they will disintegrate in the rain.
Container Houses: If woodworking isn't your thing, you can easily build a container house with items around your home. Some examples include milk cartons, plastic buckets, and cut PVC pipes. When designing, make sure you poke a few air vents in the sides or bottom of the container to prevent mold and provide an overhang to protect the nest materials from rain. To promote sustainability, consider repurposing old containers. Just make sure they are adequately cleaned and dried to remove any smells.
Pro Tip: If you're going to harvest and release bee cocoons in the future, it would be a good idea to build a cocoon hatchery into your design. Hatcheries protect cocoons from the sun, wind, rain, and predators.
Types of Nesting Materials
The solitary bees and wasps that will nest in your bee house are cavity-nesting, meaning they build their nests inside available nesting holes. The best way to protect bees from pathogens such as excessive mold, Chalkbrood, and pollen mites is to fill your bee house with bee-safe nesting materials.
Another thing to remember when collecting nesting materials is that different bee species use different diameter nesting holes. In general, spring mason bees prefer ≈ 8mm diameter holes, while summer leafcutter bees prefer ≈ 6mm diameter holes. Alternatively, place various sizes in your bee house to see what wild cavity-nesting species live in your area!
Below are some of our favorite types of nesting materials to use - feel free to mix and match to give your house a unique look!
Natural, plant-based reeds/stems are the most attractive to bees.
Reeds can be store-bought or harvested from nature. Just make sure you harvest responsibly!
Reeds should open easily for quick removal of cocoons.
Most reeds have a natural node to seal the back end. If they do not, make sure you close the back before placing them in your house - clay is a natural substance that works as a suitable tube sealant.
Avoid Bamboo: A commonly promoted reed for bee houses; however, bamboo is difficult to open, which could damage cocoons in the process and is typically too large of a diameter for many cavity-nesting bee species.
Pro Tip: Plant species with hollow or pithy stems that you can use as natural nesting materials are: Asters, Bee Balm, Phragmites, Cup Plant, Honeysuckle, Joe-Pye Weed, Raspberry/Blackberry, Sumac, Sunflower, and Wild Rose."
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