Bee Hotel

I remember this one .. looks so easy to do and is another piece of art – bees or no bees

-- - Debbie, SW Ontario Canada (USDA Hardiness Zone: 5a)

That looks like a wonderfully comfortable home for an Orchard Mason bee. I think it is beautiful too.

-- "To forget how to dig the earth and to tend the soil is to forget ourselves." M. Gandhi

What a great idea to keep the bees around.I like your design also.

-- Bon,Hastings,Ont.....zone 5a....Always room for one more

Do you sell these? If so, I want one for my buzzy friends.

-- coloradogirl---SW Colorado, 7,000' elevation, zone 4,

I think it’s great as well, but I am wondering if it may also encourage the wasps or hornets to take up residence?

-- God's greatest rewards on earth...Grandkids and a Garden for Weedin'

Till now no wasps or hornets around.
Some of the bees found it and play me rent to stay for the season. :-)

Coloradogilr
Everything is for sail….
But crossing the ocean is expensive I think….
Beter find a piece of wood…..

To bee or not to bee. I’ve never seen one of these before. the fact is we never see any bees around our place. Lots of bumble bees and hornets though. Your hotel looks like a fun thing. Maybe I will give it a try. thanks for the tip.

-- Mike the reluctant gardening assistant of Lillian

If anyone is interested in learning more about or providing/building housing for the Orchard Mason bee on their property, here is a good place to start: link from Washington State University.

-- "To forget how to dig the earth and to tend the soil is to forget ourselves." M. Gandhi

If you want to see beautifull copies of bee hotels
Here is the link
http://www.biodiversiteitsjaar-2010.nl/copyofBijen/NestBijenhot5.htm
It/s in dutch but you can use google translate.
Injoy

Very interesting. I don’t know if this would work in my garden, but I like the look of it. One more thing that once made would just be there to encourage the bees and look great too.

-- 'To plant a Garden is to believe in Tomorrow'

Thanks for posting Houtje In this area everyone is having a hard time with tomatoes due to a lack of bees, I’m putting this on the top of the to do list before next spring!

-- -Live your life so the preacher won't have to lie at your funeral!

We get plenty of bees in Australia, unfortunately I think wasps would be just as attracted to it here, but very nice indeed.

-- David, Adelaide South Australia. Every day I wake up breathing is a good day!

I love this, I will be making one, we need to be nice to our bees.
Thanks

-- If you always do what you always did, then you will always get what you always got!...Lanoka Harbor, NJ 6b

I have bees that have been happily boring into my chicken coop…

Heck, I bought some 2×4’s for some project or another and left one leaning against the wall of the house for a few weeks under the eaves and I’ll be if there wasn’t like 6 holes in it from bees building nests.

There’s even one currently building in the underside of my harvest table beside the garden..

I’m pretty sure it’s the same one I got a picture of on that sunflower a bit back. :p

-- Planting Daylilies in Kentucky, zone 6b

this is great, it looks very decorative.
I have a question, you say to use hollow twigs? don’t have those, any other suggestion? and actually, why are they needed in the holes?
how deep do you drill the holes?

thank you :)
Evelyn

-- Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ Gone Tropical Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ

Evelyn,
You also can use bamboo sticks. Cut them in the lengths you want.
I drill the holes about 10 cm deep. Some bees like smaller holes than the other thats why there is a twig in a hole.
Hope this info gives you some help

Houtje

thank you for the information :-)
10cm, wow, that is pretty deep. the house does not look so deep….

-- Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ Gone Tropical Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ

Any tenants yet?

-- There's a box?

I had some lost year,look what the are doing this year…