2 MILLION BLOSSOMS


Megachile bees checking in at my bee hotels


What are Bee Hotels? Do They Work? Put simply, bee hotels are any construction with openings that are hung out or placed in the environment to encourage cavity-nesting native bees to create nests. Inside these hotels, resident bees lay eggs, which develop into offspring. Historically used by researchers to study native bees and their nesting biology, bee hotels, known by the relatively un-   making a splash. From Costco in the USA, to Walmart in Europe, to Bunnings in Australia, and on global internet markets like Amazon, these bee hotels are popping up ev- erywhere. Lots of people are eager to jump on the bee hotel bandwagon. But despite your good intentions, before you rush to the store and plonk your money down, let’s attempt to answer the crucial question: do they work? The answer is not black and white; like most things in


life, it really depends. The design of the bee hotel strongly    will emerge successfully. Capitalizing on people’s desire to help bees, many garden centers and big box stores realize they can make a buck selling bee hotels. The vast majority are poorly designed, and it is clear the companies have not consulted bee scientists during the design process. Stuffed


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with pine-cones, wood-shavings, large open spaces, or cavi- - ed or extremely shallow holes, bees have not even a passing interest in setting up shop. Worse, many of these commercial bee hotels are made with treated or imported wood. Or sport bright coats of paint. These bee hotels may appeal to our human aesthetics, but they’re snubbed by native bees. Instead, if these “bee hotels” attract any animals, it’s wasps, cockroaches, spiders and lizards that check-in. There’s nothing wrong per se with providing habitat for these other critters. But if you want to attract native bees to your place, such a hotel will disappoint. The good news is that you can make a bee hotel buzzworthy to native bees with a few inexpensive and sustainable mate- rials, and your yard will be home to the next generation of native bees.


Buzzworthy Bee Hotels Unlike the plethora of bold and boring hotels for hu-


mans, effective bee hotels come in two basic designs: 1) Wooden blocks with holes drilled in to accommodate bee nests.


2) Hollow canes in which bees can set up a bee nursery.


© Kit Prendergast


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