"Instructions for a Simple DIY Bee House
The beauty of home-made bee houses is that you can use re-cycled or waste wood and logs and make them fairly cheaply. All you need is a wooden box, open on one side, with a sloping roof to deflect rain. Fix it to a sunny fence or wall. Fill it with blocks of wood or small logs into which you have drilled small holes. A variety of solitary bees will use these tunnels as nest sites. The box should be a minimum of 20cm (8ins) deep, and needs an overhang at the top to keep rain off. You may already have a wooden box or a drawer from an old wooden chest of drawers that you can adapt for this purpose. If not, you can make one. The one in the picture is 20cm deep, 30cm (12ins) high at the front and 30cm wide, made out of untreated European spruce. I have given it a sloping, slightly overhanging roof to deflect rain.
I have not put a back on the example in photograph, because if you intend to fix the box against a wall or solid fence, you don't need to put a back on it. If the bee house is to be free standing, fixed to a pole, you must give it a solid back, to give protection from rain and wind. You can treat the exterior of the completed bee house with a water-based varnish or fence paint if you wish. Do not use solvent-based wood treatment products as these have a strong odour which could deter bees."
Source: Marc Carlton, August 2022
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