Building a Bee Hotel, a winter project for the garden

With the British weather really doing its worse of late there has been very little time or chance to actually get in the garden or on the vegetable plot to get anything done, other than checking fencing and clearing debris that has blown in! I will begin sowing seeds soon and over the next few weeks every spare inch in the conservatory and on windowsills around the house will be taken up with seed trays full of seedlings as ever in January and February. I do have another little project though that I will be working on in the potting shed out of the wind, rain and cold temperatures.

There are, apparently, over 250 types of bee in the UK, there are twenty-four types of bumblebee alone, and they are incredibly important little creatures. Around 90% of UK bee species are solitary bees, a group that includes mason bees, mining bees and leaf-cutter bees amongst others. Solitary bees aren’t like honey bees that live in hives. As their name suggests, they make their nests on their own and lay their eggs in tunnels, such as in dead wood or hard soil. All play a vitally important role in the ecosystem. 

I am about to build myself a new ‘bee hotel’, the small one I purchased a few years back a little worse for wear after several winters in my garden though I am happy to report it has been used extensively. You do not need any great DIY skills for the task, the average leaf-cutter bee is not that bothered about whether you have used dovetail joints or overly concerned by the aesthetic exterior look to the box, as long as it is 15cm or so in depth and stuffed full of different-sized hollow tubes they are likely to take advantage. The ideal diameter for the ‘tube’ is about 1cm for UK bees, I tend to use cut down bamboo canes that have been used on the vegetable patch previously and any straight twigs and small branches pruned from trees with holes drilled into them. I will place mine around five-feet high up the side of my log store, a height of three-five feet is ideal. It is facing south in one of the sunniest positions in my garden, in theory the ideal spot. If you are thinking of making a bee hotel, or buying a pre-made one, you will get the best results if it is placed facing in a direction that allows it to receive as much full morning sun as possible. Solitary bees have relatively short flying ranges so you therefore need to ensure there are plenty of flowers within reach of your hotel, and in the case of leaf-cutter bees, leaves and petals for them to make the cocoons they lay their eggs in. Even if you don’t see the bee’s you know when you have them as the telltale half moon-shaped notches appear on leaves of trees and bushes as they busy themselves building their nests in your bee hotel.

Cheers 🍺