Make a bug hotel
Follow our simple instructions to make a bug hotel for invertebrates, such as bumblebees and beetles to hibernate in over winter.
In the autumn and winter as the nights start getting colder, bugs need a safe dry place to shelter and hibernate. Creating a bug hotel will provide bumblebees, beetles, spider and snails a place to stay over the winter period. Plus, it is a great way to tidy up the dead leaves in the garden.
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| Bug Hotel © Stephen Arnott |
What you will need to make a bug hotel
- Plastic mesh or chicken wire (about 1 metre by 1 metre)
- Garden string, wire or twine
- Flat piece of wood or plastic
- Pile of dead leaves
- Wire coat hangers
How to make a bug hotel
- Curl the mesh or chicken wire into a tube and tie it in place with garden string, wire or twine.
- Put some sticks through the bottom of the mesh tube to provide an off the ground base to stop the hotel getting damp.
- Fill the tube with dead leaves
- Give the bug hotel a lid to make it water tight by placing a flat piece of wood or plastic over the top of the tube.
- Add more leaves over time as they old leaves dry our and shrink down.
- Place the bug hotel in a quiet corner of the garden, preferably in the shade.
- To secure the bug hotel from high winds you may wish to open a wire coat hanger to create a v-shaped peg in the ground.
Let us know how you get on with your bee hotel by sending us an email
