n 2016 I’ve installed a number of self-made bee hotels and one commercially obtained (a gift) in the garden.
Choose the order on the submenu Bee hotel to view the different visitors
The main section consists of a sunny wall facing south. It is setup and divided in sections based on heights.
All bee hotels in sections I – III have the nest entrances facing south.
SECTION I
| Block 1 | |
|---|---|
| Height | 33-80 cm |
| Material | Stem, wood unknown |
| Drill-holes | mixed, 3 – 8 mm, perpendicular |
Block 1 is a stem mounted vertically from the ground against the wall. It was setup in 2014 and is the oldest block. It is still being used by:
Bees (Apoidae)
| Megachillidae | Heriades | – Ridge-saddled carpenter bee (Heriades troncorum) |
| Megachile | – Red mason bee (Osmia bicornis) |
| Block 2 | |
|---|---|
| Heigth | ±40cm |
| Material | Clay |
| Drill-holes | – |
Block 2 is a wooden frame filled with hardened clay. It is used by:
Wasps (Hymenoptera)
| Pomilidae | Auplopus | – Auplopus carbonarius, uses the clay as nest material |
SECTION II
| Block 2 | |
|---|---|
| Height | 110 – 185 cm |
| Material | – large and small stems of birch – bamboo – bricks – stems of Eupatorium cannabinum |
| Drill-holes | mixed, 2,5mm – 10 mm |
| Built | 2014, wood replaced in 2016 |
This block is, together with block 6, the most popular and is overloaded with Ridge-saddled carpenter bee (Heriades truncorum) and Red mason bee (Osmia bicornis).
The four bricks are not popular and only a couple of holes have been used up till now.
The stems are used every year.
User of this block are:
Bees (Apoidae)
| Colletidae | Colletes | – Colletes davisanus |
| Hylaeus | – Common yellow face bee (Hylaeus communis) | |
| Megachillidae | Chelostoma | – Chelostoma rapunculi |
| Heriades | – Ridge-saddled carpenter bee (Heriades troncorum) | |
| Megachile | 1. Red mason bee (Osmia bicornis) 2. European orchard bee (Osmia cornuta) |
Wasps (Hymenoptera)
| Crabronidae | Trypoxylon | – Trypoxylon figulus |
| Block 4 | |
|---|---|
| Height (centre) | 170 cm |
| Material | stem Elm |
| Drill-holes | mixed, 2,5 – 8 mm |
| Built | 2015 |
This is an older block that is used intensively by:
Bees (Apoidae)
| Megachillidae | Heriades | – Ridge-saddled carpenter bee (Heriades troncorum) |
| Megachile | 1. Patchwork leafcutter bee (Megachile centuncularis) 2. Willughby’s Leaf-cutter Bee (Megachile willughbiella) 3. Red mason bee (Osmia bicornis) 4. European orchard bee (Osmia cornuta) |
Wasps (Hymenoptera)
| Crabronidae | Crossocerus | – Crossocerus vagabundus |
| Trypoxylon | – Trypoxylon figulus | |
| Vespidae | Ancistrocerus | – Ancistrocerus sp. |
| Block 5 | |
|---|---|
| Height (centre) | 170 cm |
| Material | trunk slice, elm |
| Drill-holes | mixed, 2,5 – 8 mm |
| Built | 2019 |
This block is intensively used by:
Bees (Apoidae)
| Colletidae | Hylaeus | – Common yellow face bee (Hylaeus communis) |
| Megachillidae | Heriades | – Ridge-saddled carpenter bee (Heriades troncorum) |
| Megachile | 1. Patchwork leafcutter bee (Megachile centuncularis) 2. Brown-footed leafcutter bee (Megachile versicolor) 3. Willughby’s Leaf-cutter Bee (Megachile willughbiella) 4. Red mason bee (Osmia bicornis) 5. European orchard bee (Osmia cornuta) |
Wasps (Hymenoptera)
| Crabronidae | Passaloecus | – Passaloecus insignis |
| Trypoxylon | – Trypoxylon figulus |
| Block 6 | |
|---|---|
| Height | 80 – 170 cm |
| Material | – small stems of plane and birch – bamboo stems (mixed diameters) |
| Drill-holes | 2,5 – 6, some holes of 8 mm |
| Built | 2018 |
This block is added in 2018 and is intensively used by:
Bees (Apoidae)
| Megachillidae | Chelostoma | – Chelostoma rapunculi |
| Heriades | – Ridge-saddled carpenter bee (Heriades troncorum) | |
| Megachile | – Red mason bee (Osmia bicornis) |
Wasps (Hymenoptera)
| Crabronidae | Nitela | Nitela borealis |
| Trypoxylon | Trypoxylon figulus |
| Block 8 | |
|---|---|
| Height (centre) | 130 cm |
| Material | trunk slice, unknown wood |
| Drill-holes | 2,5 – 8 mm |
| Built | 2020 |
This section has been added in 2020 and is slowly being taken in use:
Bees (Apoidae)
| Megachillidae | Heriades | – Ridge-saddled carpenter bee (Heriades troncorum) |
| Megachile | – Willughby’s Leaf-cutter Bee (Megachile willughbiella) |
Wasps (Hymenoptera)
| Crabronidae | Crossocerus | – Crossocerus vagabundus |
| Trypoxylon | – Trypoxylon figulus | |
| Vespidae | Ancistrocerus | 1. Ancistrocerus sp. 2. Ancistrocerus nigricornis |
| Block 9 | |
|---|---|
| Height | 120 – 150 cm |
| Material | trunk slice, unknown wood |
| Drill-holes | 2,5 – 8 mm |
| Built | 2020 |
| Block 10 | |
|---|---|
| Height | 70 – 150 cm |
| Material | – bamboo stems – small stems of unknown wood (under construction) |
| Drill-holes | mixed, 2,5 – 8 mm |
| Built | 2020 |
This block has been added beginning of 2020 and is currently used sparingly:
Bees (Apoidae)
| Megachillidae | Chelostoma | – Chelostoma rapunculi |
Wasps (Hymenoptera)
| Crabronidae | Trypoxylon | – Trypoxylon figulus |
SECTION III
| Block 3 | |
|---|---|
| Height (centre) | 200 cm |
| Material | trunk slice, elm |
| Drill-holes | 2,5 – 8 mm |
| Built | 2015 |
An older block used by:
Bees (Apoidae)
| Colletidae | Hylaeus | – Common yellow face bee (Hylaeus communis) |
| Megachillidae | Heriades | – Ridge-saddled carpenter bee (Heriades troncorum) |
| Megachile | 1. Patchwork leafcutter bee (Megachile centuncularis) 2. Willughby’s Leaf-cutter Bee (Megachile willughbiella) |
Wasps (Hymenoptera)
| Crabronidae | Crossocerus | – Crossocerus annulipes (on left side block in fissure, 3 nests) |
| Ectemnius | – Ectemnius cavifrons (2 nests, gnawed in drill hole) |
| Block 7 | |
|---|---|
| Height (centre) | 200 cm |
| Material | trunk slice, lime |
| Drill-holes | 8 – 10 mm, with smaller holes |
| Built | 2019 |
This block is not used. The wood was not nice to drill in and resulted in rough ‘hairy’ walls. I tried to compensate by making the holes bigger and hanging it higher so it may become attractive for Megachile bees that seem to prefer heights.
Bijen (Apoidae)
| – |
Wespen (Hymenoptera)
| – |
| Block 14 | |
|---|---|
| Height (centre) | 200 cm |
| Material | boomschijf, linde |
| Drill-holes | 3 – 6 mm |
| Built | 2021 |
This block has been made specifically as an experiment to test if covered holes are interesting for Symmorphus and Ancistrocerus wasps, see also here.
Bijen (Apoidae)
| – |
Wespen (Hymenoptera)
| Crabronidae | Passaloecus | – Passaloecus sp. |
| Vespidae | Symmorphus | – Symmorphus crassicornis |
SECTION IV
| Block 13 | |
|---|---|
| Orientation | east |
| Height (centre) | 140 cm |
| Material | trunk slice, lime |
| Drill-holes | 3, 4, 5, 6 mm |
| Built | 2015 |
The commercial bee hotel is apparently not usefull for insects as it is rarely visited. It has different sections intended for different insects like butterflies, bees, beetles etc, but is mainly used by spiders.
The bamboo stems are open on both sides rendering them useless, however in 2020 I noticed three of them filled up. Probably by red mason bee as it is the only large bee that I have seen showing some interest.
In 2020 the garden is visited by many Chelostoma rapunculi bees and they have now taken a specific compartment, filled with horizontal reeds, into use.
Bees (Apoidae)
| Megachillidae | Chelostoma | – Chelostoma rapunculi |
| Megachile | – Red mason bee (Osmia bicornis) |
Wasps (Hymenoptera)
| – |
SECTION V
| Block 11 | |
|---|---|
| Orientation | north |
| Height (centre) | 140 cm |
| Material | trunk slice, lime |
| Drill-holes | 3, 4, 5, 6 mm |
| Built | 2020 |
This is a small block as an experiment. Recently I’ve read [1] that certain wasps from the genera Symmorphus and Ancistrocerus possibly prefer the nest entrance oriented to the north or west. Also, specific per species, they prefer drill-holes diameters of 3, 4, 5 or 6 mm, and the nest at a height of 1 to 2 meters.
This block has been built specifically for these groups using those parameters.
SECTION VI
| Block 12 | |
|---|---|
| Orientation | west |
| Height (centre) | 150 cm |
| Material | trunk slice, lime |
| Drill-holes | 3, 4, 5, 6 mm |
| Built | 2020 |
This section is also made specifically for Symmorphus and Ancistrocerus, see section V what this means.
MAINTENANCE
It is a good practice to built bee hotels in compartments so it is easy to replace part once they are worn.
Block 2 is not a smart built as every thing is stacked and pressed into the frame which makes it very hard to replace items. Nowadays I prefer to make small frames, according to what will be in it, that can be filled, like blocks 6 and 10. In block 10 I also applied separators between the sections within the block.
Using complete truck slices is handy and easy to replace, but they tend to crack in the sunlight.
Weathering is the main reason to replace a block, the nests do not need cleaning as the bees clean them themselves.
RAW MATERIALS
Drilling wood should leave clean smooth walls, so one should use sharp drills when drilling. But also the type of wood seems a factor. It do not recognize wood so I make some sample drilling. If the sawdust is small and granular it is good, but sometimes it is woolly with long fibres. This is not good and I’m not sure if it is the type of wood or the state of the wood, or both. Even when the wood looks good and hard it may occur, maybe it is because it is partly deteriorated.
I’ve used bricks in block 2, but to this date two holes have been used. Bees and wasps alike do not show a lot of interest.
Literature
1 BUDRIENE, Anna. Reproductive ecology and behaviour of predatory wasps (Hymenoptera: Eumeninae). Doctor al thesis. Vilnius, 2004.
Hartelijk dank voor deze voortreffelijke site.
Ik ga onmiddellijk aan de slag om mijn betrekkelijk willekeurig opgehangen beuken schijven in hoogte te zoneren en een paar nieuwe hotels te maken van berkschijven. Ik kreeg de indruk dat berk het meest gewilde hout was in jouw aanbod. De expositie van mijn hotel(s) is zuidwest en daardoor mogelijk erg warm.Ik ga nu experimenteren met NO
Dank je wel voor de leuke reaktie!
Warm is goed, de meeste van mijn hotels staan op zuid en die doen het goed bij bijen en wespen. De experimenten op Noord en Oost zijn specifiek voor bepaalde wespen en hebben dit seizoen nog niets opgeleverd, mogelijk volgend seizoen Ben benieuwd hoe jouw experimenten verlopen.
Olger