Build A Bee Hotel

Build a simple bee house or bee hotel or whatever you want to call it for your backyard! Take the learning outdoors and explore the world of bees with a DIY bee hotel. Make an easy bamboo structure for local native bees to lay their eggs this spring. Make sure to check out tons more fun and hands-on nature activities for kids!

HOW TO MAKE A BEE HOUSE

DO BEE HOTELS WORK?

According to this gardening expert, yes bee hotels do work if you use the right kind of materials and maintain them correctly.

Bee hotels are great for bees that like to lay their eggs in small spaces, like mason bees. They are not made for honeybees. Mason bees are named because of their habit of using mud or other “masonry” products to make their nests. Mason bees are great pollinators and will work in cool or rainy weather when honeybees are more likely to take the day off.

ALSO CHECK OUT: DIY Insect Hotel

Make your own mason bee house below with bamboo tubes. The bamboo is used to allow solitary bees to lay their eggs. Your bee house will also be attractive as a nesting place for other insects like wasps. However, the wasps found in your bee hotel generally will not the stinging kind and are helpful for the garden as well.

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A few tips for your bee house…

Position it at least 3 feet above the ground and make sure it is not going to swing in the wind.
Replace any bamboo tubes when they start to look moldy or have parasites in them.
In fall, store your bee hotel away and take it out again in the spring.

Looking for easy to print activities, and inexpensive problem-based challenges? We have you covered…

Click here to get your free Nature STEM challenges!

MAKE A BEE HOTEL

Learn more about bees with this honey bee lapbook project!

SUPPLIES:

18 Feet Bamboo Stakes (used (3) 6-foot stakes)
Scissors
Marker
Measuring Tape
Hand Saw/Knife (or power saw)
Natural Twine

INSTRUCTIONS

Step 1: Mark the bamboo in 6-inch sections. If using a 6-foot piece, you should be able to get 12 pieces from each stake.

Step 2: Using the saw cut the bamboo on the marks to make 6-inch sections.

Step 3: Unwrap some twine and run it under the cut pieces of bamboo. Then tie the twine back to itself making a tight bundle of bamboo. Wrap the twine around the bundle several times to make sure it is nice and tight.

Step 4: Then cut the rest of the twine off. Tie the two ends together tightly.

Step 5: Take the twine and measure out about 12 inches. Then fold and double, then double again until you have four strains that are about 12 inches long. Cut the rest of the twine off. Then tie those pieces together at the end with the two end pieces.

Step 6: Tuck the twine under the wrapped twine on the bundle. Pull it through so you have twine coming out both ends. Then loop it back around and pull it through itself to form a way to hang the bee house.