- Nesting aids for wild bees in the garden
- Build your own wild bee house
- Set up insect hotel for wild bees
Help the development of the site, sharing the article with friends!
How can you support wild bees with nesting in the garden? What characteristics does a species-appropriate insect hotel have to fulfil? We reveal how you can help the little buggers with nesting aids in the garden.
Wild bees fulfill an important task in the garden, because they are among the most important pollinators of all. Wild bees often fly earlier in the year than honey bees. As "belly collectors", they often pollinate flowers more effectively, which translates into a higher yield. At the same time, many wild bee species are also highly specialized: Thanks to their special adaptation, they can pollinate native plants where other beneficial insects have no chance. Unfortunately, the number of wild bees is dwindling more and more: unsuitable habitats and a lack of diversity in the garden make life difficult for the small animals. If you want to support the wild bees, you can not only do them a big favor with a flower meadow, but also with a species-appropriate insect hotel. Here we tell you what to consider when building a wild bee nesting aid and what mistakes to avoid.
Nesting aids for wild bees in the garden
If you want to support insects in the garden, you can achieve a lot with a nesting aid for wild bees. However, a few points should be considered to ensure that the nesting aid is well received. Different wild bee species prefer different shelter options: Hole and scissor bees, for example, feel perfectly at home in hollow plant stems, while mason bees, on the other hand, prefer hollow chambers in stone or wood. In order to appeal to as many wild bee species as possible, it is therefore advisable to use several different wild bee nesting aids or even an insect hotel with different materials.
When buying such an insect hotel, however, you should keep your eyes open: Not all models that are offered are really suitable for wild bees. In particular, you should refrain from using a bee nesting aid with a glass tube for observation - the waterproof material can lead to fungus in the brood and is therefore more harmful than useful. Also the oftenThe perforated and hollow bricks used are extremely unsuitable and are therefore just as rarely colonized by wild bees as the "willow rod clay walls", the material of which is almost always too hard. In addition, make sure that there are no sharp edges inside the wild bee nesting aid, as these can injure the sensitive wings of the animals. The best option is therefore to build a wild bee nesting box yourself: Not only can you be sure that the materials used are suitable, but it is also a lot of fun and can also be easily implemented with children.
Build your own wild bee house
Wild bee houses come in all shapes and sizes. In fact, the outer shape is secondary at first, because round nesting boxes are flown to just as much as triangular ones. The size is not decisive either: several small nesting aids can be just as helpful for wild bees as a large insect hotel. Instead, the focus should be on the furnishings - this is decisive for whether the nesting aid is not only well accepted, but also really helpful for the small insects. In fact, different species of wild bees need different nesting aids - bumblebees can best be supported by a special bumblebee nesting box. We have summarized the different nesting aids for wild bees for you here.
Wooden nesting aids for wild bees
The best known are probably wooden nesting aids with pre-drilled holes, which are used by various wild bee species. So that the wood does not tear during drilling or later when drying, you should drill into well-seasoned longitudinal wood, i.e. with the direction of the grain. Holes with a diameter of three to six millimeters and the depth of a full drill bit can then be drilled into this. On the other hand, fresh blocks of wood or boreholes along the grain, i.e. in the end-grain wood - this also includes tree discs - are not suitable as nesting aids, as they often tear and then become too damp. Coniferous wood is also unsuitable for bees, as it tends to splinter - it is therefore best to use robust hardwood such as oak. A natural alternative to the pre-drilled insect hotels are piles of dead wood: rotten branches and dead trees are ideal as nesting sites for carpenter bees and should therefore ideally be left loosely stacked in the garden. Again, only suitableHardwood.
Clay or clay nesting aids for wild bees
Perforated or hollow bricks are also popular in insect hotels. However, these have too large cavities, so they are rarely covered. Seam bricks are much better suited here: mason bees and leafcutter bees like to use the small cavities of this type of brick as a nesting aid. Alternatively, you can also make so-called bee stones yourself by making small holes in the clay and then firing it. But the cavities in dry stone walls and piles of stones are also readily accepted by wild bees. So if you have a few old natural stones in the garden, you can also offer a natural nesting aid with such piles of stones. Clay walls are also popular with wild bees, but care must be taken that the substrate is not too firm, as fur bees and other steep wall dwellers dig their own tunnels. Unfired clay bricks have proven their worth here - however, they should not stand directly on the ground, otherwise they could draw water.
Nesting aids for wild bees made of plant stems
Another common form of wild bee nesting aids is bundling plant stems. However, there is often confusion between pithy and hollow stalks: while hollow plant stalks (e.g. bamboo or reed stalks) are bundled horizontally and offer good shelter for solitary wild bee species, pithy plant stalks are only accepted if they are placed vertically. Stalks of blackberries are particularly popular, but mullein and dog rose are also accepted by masked bees and co. But the stalks don't always have to be cut off separately: If you leave the pithed stalks in the perennial bed and don't rigorously cut back the plants, wild bees will also find an excellent nesting place here.
Sand lenses as a nesting aid for wild bees
Many wild bees not only nest in dead wood or stone niches, but often also in the ground. Narrow bees in particular, but also silk bees and sand bees, often dig their own tunnels in the ground, which they use for nesting. Unfortunately, only a few gardens have bare patches with suitable soil in which the animals can nest. A sand lens can help: Filledwith drifting sand or loamy sand, it offers a good basis for building nesting sites. So that the bees also feel comfortable, the sand lens should be filled with at least 25 cm of sand and protected from rain and wind (e.g. under a roof). If adequate protection from the weather cannot be guaranteed, a generous water drain should be installed so that excess water cannot accumulate.
Set up insect hotel for wild bees
In addition to the appropriate breeding sites, special attention should be paid to protection from wind and weather, as well as from predators. The roof of the insect hotel should have a small overhang so that the nesting aid is not directly exposed to the rain. However, the use of protective glaze or paint (especially for nesting material) is not recommended. As protection against predators, which like to plunder the nesting aids for wild bees, it can be worth stretching a wire mesh or net around the wild bee house at a distance of about 20 cm. The mesh size should be about 3 cm x 3 cm. Tighter bird nets from the garden, on the other hand, are not suitable because they impede the insects and can become a death trap for inattentive birds.
The question of the right location also arises. The nesting aid should face south and be protected from rain and wind, as a dry and warm nesting site is a prerequisite for successful breeding. A stable attachment is important - wild bees will not accept nesting aids dangling in the wind. The insect hotel for wild bees should also not be too close to the ground, as plants can shade it here. Wild bees prefer sunny breeding sites with a free approach path, so that a place close to the ground is often unsuitable. On the other hand, bee-friendly plants near the nesting aid are gladly accepted. Seed mixtures, such as the Plantura bee pasture, are particularly well received, as their diversity allows them to provide for a wide variety of wild bee species in the long term. A water point nearby also makes the insect hotel much more attractive for wild bees.
Would you like to learn more about wild bees and their tasks? Then take a look at the experts at Beehome! There you will not only find portraits of different species of wild bees, but you will also learn everything about how to protect the beneficial insectswith a ready-made wild bee house in the city or in the country.
And in our article on the subject of bee pollination, we will tell you how beneficial insects fulfill their task as pollinators.