How to build the most successful Bee or Bug Hotel Habitat.....Ever?

[@visieraverde]

Excellent job. Even the analysis of hole occupancy rates with varying heights from the ground and insect populations is also interesting

[@nl4064]

great stuff how we define our relationship with insects will decide our fate

[@OurCatioHome]

Oh my, I have one cross cut from an Oak and now know what to do with it.... Thank you for beeeing so clever!

[@Calastein]

Lol I see what you did there

[@oneminutebugs]

Very informative. Thank you!

[@dragonagedreams6251]

Very nice!

[@PresidentofAntifa]

Pretty sure a CNC machine can drill many holes programmatically and dramatically increase the number of holes per piece. Maybe a chance to scale up / reduce labor. *Chainsaw + CNC machine*

[@Calastein]

thanks for the message, but honestly, where is the fun in that? xxxxx

[@PresidentofAntifa]

@@Calastein You know what money does? Fun. You know what activism is? 1000x more is better.

[@danjackson4149]

my sturdy wooden hi-fi speakers are going to be reincarnated into a quieter, peaceful afterlife as a luxury residence for bees! ....and so is my rickety bedside cabinet !

[@Calastein]

lol love it!

[@Sam-cr5wn]

Just found your videos because I'm about to try and attempt and make one of these haha wish me luck but great information ❤️

[@Calastein]

Good luck! Please send me a picture on Twitter or Instagram when it’s done xxx

[@marcelvdberg]

That was a really entertaining video and lovely to watch how you made these. Watching all that hard work makes me even more appreciate it! Hope your neck is feeling better now, i'm actually starting to feel a bit guilty hearing about all those injuries when creating all these Hapitats for us. I have 5 of them by the way and they are all very succesfull. Looking forward to the bees moving into this one next season. Anyone reading this, if you have a small place in your garden, order one. You won't regret it. They are fantastic and Steven always matches your donation for the World Land Trust. It's lovely to see the bees moving out and about. Great job Steven, i hope to order even more in the future! Take care, M.

[@Calastein]

Grote Griezel Thank you M for all your support and as ever, your kind and encouraging words which are always appreciated. xxxx

[@wildlifegardener-tracey6206]

That’s lot of hard work! They’re super and I’m sure they’ll be well used by our much needed bees. Brilliant.

[@Calastein]

Tracey Pye Thank you! ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️ It was a long two days I can tell you xxxx

[@stfu19999]

@@Calastein this has one major flaw. one bird is enough and kills everything. you need as recommended evewhere a grill in front of it

[@Calastein]

@@stfu19999 Hi, no, I don’t do anything too unnatural, I don’t mind a bird taking a few as they would in nature. Been keeping these for 15 years and have about 20-20k bees or larvae at any one point and only twice have I seen birds taking any and even then only from 2-3 holes and not deep enough to get more than 1 or 2 bees. A grill or mesh also stops some of the larger parasitical wasps from laying too and they are just as beautiful, interesting and worth saving as the solitary bees. ☺️

[@missh5759]

Yay! Awsome video Steve :) love from wales xx

[@Calastein]

Thank you :) Wales is so beautiful, I will be making more videos from there whenever I get the chance. It’s my future home, if I could become Welsh I would! Xxxxx

[@2338]

Thank you

[@Calastein]

МАРИО 2338 Thank you! 😁

[@janiem435]

What glue are you using? Does it matter? Thank you

[@Calastein]

PVA watered down 50% :)

[@caroleveseaman6210]

What did you seal the surface that has the holes in with?

[@Calastein]

PVA and water 50/50 BUT these days I use Raw Linseed oil and White Spirit 50/50 mix and the spirit evaporates off leaving the natural oil :)

[@caroleveseaman6210]

@@Calastein thank you so much

[@caroleveseaman6210]

Hi, you have probably answered this somewhere in your videos and / or comments, but how thick does the log have to be and also what size holes, i.e., drill size are best. Thank you

[@Calastein]

Thicker the log the better but for hole sizes, try this video :) kzbin.info/www/bejne/rquuY5mMmpqkrq8

[@caroleveseaman6210]

@@Calastein thank ypu

[@rubies211]

stupid question, what do u mean with .. cross cut? im not english so maybe im not hearing it right or understanding enough

[@Calastein]

@@rubies211 hi…..so basically, against or across the grain, not cutting with it.

[@ZoomStranger]

Yep, that's an offputting amount of labour. I'm reaching for my chainsaw, got plenty of wood and I'll give that a go. Thanks for the guidance!

[@Calastein]

I’m 30 hours in on my latest project and still only half way there! ☺️☺️☺️

[@someblokecalleddave1]

You should get a Bow saw - cheap in B&Q.

[@saskiaverhulst2302]

Hi, I’m Saskia from the Netherlands, may I know whereabouts you live? The end of the month we’re in the UK. We’re staying in the Peak District. If it’s close by or on route maybe we could buy one from you? Greetings from The Netherlands

[@Calastein]

Hi there, unfortunately I don’t think we would be on your way anywhere, as we are in Snowdonia in North Wales. However, follow & DM me on Twitter / Instagram and we’ll sort something else out :)

[@ecoeve5868]

Brilliant video thank you! Is that PVA glue you coated it with?

[@Calastein]

Hi, thanks :0) Yes a 50/50 mix with water xx

[@liannesim9558]

how long does wood need to be seasoned ? I am making one now in a log which is about 3 months old. I kept it outside now in a dry place and plan to place it in January. Is that long enough ? Thanks !

[@Calastein]

Depends on the wood but absolutely, do it now and put it out for next year’s season, even if you don’t get ‘guests’ right away, it will continue to season ready for 2021 :)

[@liannesim9558]

@@Calastein thanks. I will do just that ( but I am impatient so I hope I will have guests already next season !) by the way, you are truly in inspiration. every time I watch a video I want to start drilling again ! Thanks for sharing your passion. I also asked a question on bird protection and I see that with you, with the wooden logs, birds cannot easily hold themselves on. My bee hotel made mainly from Bamboo had a "landingstrip" for birds and everything got destroyed. But i agree with what you said, birds need food too and putting wire in front of it will make it ugly IMO.

[@Calastein]

lianne sim Thanks for the lovely comment, I love making videos but it’s nice to know people like them xxXXxx The bird thing is tricky, I get around it by making so many habitats that I can afford to lose a few! 😜 The larvae won’t know too much about it when they can eaten but it’s still sad, the ones towards the backs of the chambers should be fine though of course. The pain in the bum is when a woodpecker literally drills the hole out then I have to repair it but that too is ok with me :)

[@Pete.Ty1]

Thanks for some great ideas and designs, I'm going to make a selection of hotel / homes over the winter ready for next year. What were you using at 13.17min, was it a water based varnish? Looking forward to your next upload. Best wishes Pete.

[@Calastein]

pete T. Hi, thanks for the great message, glad you enjoyed the video...that was PVA glue mixed with water about 50/50 which helps to seal the top layer and gives it a nice finish. Ideally obviously everything is best with no chemicals whatsoever but it’s low VOC and water based so has very little negative effect on the bees if at all. :)

[@Pete.Ty1]

@@Calastein Thank you I knew you would be using a product that is wildlife friendly, just wasn't sure what it was. Always look forward to your uploads 🖒. Best wishes Pete.

[@hillslide]

Siiiiick

[@josephlalor4522]

Hi there, how did you attract these bees to your backyard in the first place? In my backyard I haven't seen any of these species (presumably because there's no habitat yet). But will simply building a hotel be enough to attract them? I live in Ireland btw, where we only have a small few populations of the leaf cutter bees...

[@Calastein]

If you have a wide variety of nectar rich and pollen rich trees, flowers and wild flowers they should already be passing through. Make sure you have a water feature like a wildlife pond and then once you have a habitat they should use it for sure :)

[@josephlalor4522]

@@Calastein Great news, thanks a million for your reply. Would something small like bird bath do? We also have a small river right down the street from us, if that is of any use.

[@Calastein]

Joseph Lalor No problem :) They prefer standing water, maybe try something like this.....kzbin.info/www/bejne/oHm6eYlqqcaegpo

[@RoSouza]

LIKE

[@bobbie-blu]

These look amazing. Do you have to clean out the holes every year or do the bee/insects do that for you?

[@Calastein]

Hi, no not at all, some people like to keep things sterile, myself, I leave it to nature and last year’s material will slowly fall out or be excavated out by the next generation of bees :)

[@bobbie-blu]

@@Calastein great, thank you. will be building some this year. I'm slowly turning the garden in to a wildlife friendly garden. which way is best to position them?

[@Calastein]

bobbie-blu well that depends on the species really but generally south is best with a nice overhang above the habitat for shade and to help with water ingress, alternatively you can position East or West which is ok. I have other videos about that very question if you fancy finding them. xxxx

[@bobbie-blu]

@@Calastein thank you

[@Calastein]

... forgot to mention having a large roof doesn’t stop the warmth when they need it. In the morning the Sun will be low in the sky so they will get the morning warmth to start the day then as the day gets hotter and the Sun moves more overhead the large roof will give them protection.

[@UkAmphibians]

What plants attract red mason bee ?

[@Calastein]

Uk Amphibians hi, generally anything but preferably composite flowers or flowers with only a single ring of petals for access, Try to keep it native if you can, they will use anything rom aster to plum to eryngium to bowles mauve, also ceanothus and scabious to name a few

[@UkAmphibians]

Wild About Nature what plants look nicest and names please going to order some today thanks

[@Calastein]

Uk Amphibians In Bowles mauve is awesome and flowers for most of the year. solanum and honeysuckle are climbers of sorts, lavendar and lungwort are beautiful too. Ceanothus is on the larger side but bees love it. Chives and Rosemary are great herbs for bees.

[@UkAmphibians]

Wild About Nature brilliant Thankyou

[@jackyfellows506]

I'd love one of these...would I be able to put an order in with you?

[@Calastein]

Jacky Fellows Hi,’ can you message me on Twitter or Instagram and we’ll DM privately :) xxx

[@jammybilly]

@@Calastein Hi, if I don't have twitter or Instagram can we still contact you for orders?

[@Calastein]

jammybilly Hi, Twitter : steven_ware Instagram : _wild_about_nature_ , just getting settled but I should have my workshop up and running soon ready for action :)

[@trishford6643]

My leaf cutter bees are completely attacking my newly planted Eastern Red Bud tree. I started doing some research on how to eliminate them without using pesticides, when I came upon the benefits of these bees!!! I was surprised! Now I want to create habitats for them, but I don't really want them to kill my tree! Any suggestions?

[@Calastein]

Trish Ford Hi, you need to plant something they prefer to use like certain roses, something with a robust leaf. Of course generally they only cut one circle out of each leaf in order to make their chambers for the larvae and even though it looks a little strange it normally doesn’t endanger the plant or tree.

[@88JcJas]

Great stuff, have watched all your videos on insect hotels and now I just have to find some wood and make some myself. I have a question though - my mum is allergic to bee and wasp stings so I was wondering do you know how big I can make the holes for her one without welcoming any bees or wasps? Thanks again for all the helpful and inspiring content.

[@Calastein]

Hi, don’t worry too much about bees, generally they are docile. Even solitary bees have weak stings but them stinging anyone is virtually unheard of. Wasps tend not to come nearby as they will be chased off and generally won’t use these holes no matter the size unless overwintering. Use a nice range of hole sizes from 3-10mm to ensure you cater for many different types of solitarys ☺️☺️☺️

[@CloudChalk]

Hi, I've been watching a few of your videos and you mentioned in one that you can make a habitat if people pay the cost of shipping and make a donation in your name. I've been looking everywhere for a way to contact you but can't find one! Could you please let me know if you still do this and how to contact you. :) P.s. saw your twitter profile, a vegan who makes animal habitats and rescues cats.. Amazing!

[@Calastein]

Hi, thanks for the lovely message. I will be back into it in the new year for sure and yes all I need is shipping and. World Land Trust donation done as a ‘gift’ so I receive a certificate for my wall ☺️ If you want to follow me on Twitter and Tweet me I’ll follow on there and we can have a DM chat xxx