How to make a solitary bee hotel (update 2019)

[@greenbeevideo765]

I can't wait for your new book! Your previous ones have been such an inspiration for me, and have furthered my love for all native bees (and all other critters). I hope to someday have a garden as bee-utiful as yours! For now though, I take an entomology class and a bee seminar next semester of college :)

[@davegoulson6831]

Lovely to hear you've enjoyed the books! I'm excited to see how the new one is recieved....

[@kristofvd3202]

I have several hundred mason bees buzzing. Noticed them last spring in the bee house we hung up so many years ago. Then got inspired by you and drilled some holes! Any holes I drill now get filled in a matter of days. Some 500 holes, 6 inches deep already all filled by the bees. Have several wooden blocks and natural hollow stems hanging under shed overhangings. Both SSE and WSW direction, all incredibly popular, unbelievable.

[@wildlifegardener-tracey6206]

Kristof VD thank you 😊

[@davegoulson6831]

Fantastic :)

[@emmafox4069]

loved seeing that female bee going into the tube and finding a good place to lay her egg! making a difference, one bee at a time

[@NVehapi]

My 2 year old son and I made one of these out of an old coffee tin and rolls from paper bags. We love watching the bees go in and out all day.

[@VanderlyndenJengold]

... great for kids? I want one for myself! I'd introduce a law that every new build had bee and bird bricks as standard.

[@VanderlyndenJengold]

Oh look, I was here four years ago too, that was when I started with the bee hotels.

[@bigoldgrizzly]

I have a pile of large 6 to 8 inch thick western red cedar log ends I just could not bear to burn but had no ideas for using them ..... now I know exactly why I was right to save them :

[@davegoulson6831]

Go for it :)

[@bigoldgrizzly]

@@davegoulson6831 Done it !

[@Roadkill3120]

How do newly hatched bees know, which way is out? And do they have to wait until their neighbors has dug out?

[@davegoulson6831]

Excellent question, I have no idea how they know which way to go, but they cannot leave until all the bees above them have gone

[@Narnendil]

@@davegoulson6831 I've also wondered about this. Thanks for answering!

[@VanderlyndenJengold]

I've built quite a few bee hotels for our allotment site this year. I'm trying to spread them around the site so they may survive too many parasites. I've just collected a lot of wood so I'm busily putting more up tp hopefully catch the last of the leafcutters. I'm also trying to interest others in solitary bees whilst I'm at it.

[@billiamc1969]

Very nice Prof Dave...love the garden!!!! Our Mason's here in Baltimore are doing very well...we hung ours on the chicken coop!!!

[@Roadkill3120]

To feed the chickens?

[@eccentricoldcow]

I have to mention that as these drilled holes may provide nests for the solitaries, you are unable to clean out any parasites or possible diseases from them in Autumn. Best thing is to make your own using Japanese Knotweed as it's very strong (only harvest dead of course) or giant hogweed, and you can make your own paper liners if you wish quite easily using recycled brown paper or any clean paper with no print and rolling on a chop stick or knitting needle type length. I used a bought bee house back in 2006 and put it up and it was used right away following Spring. that had bamboo canes in it. The bees were smothered in pollen mites next Spring when they came out mating. This is not ideal of course. So we do our best to help them by making sure we use materials which can be cleaned out and the cocoons removed and stored each Autumn. Fabulous hobby and cheap as you like

[@bradleywoods3742]

The parasites come naturally when there is a large population of bees, they may regulated the population a bit but they aren't a danger to their existance. Don't forget that most of the parasites are other solitary bees and wasps which are also important.

[@eccentricoldcow]

@@bradleywoods3742 Ooh I wouldn't be too sure of that. The fact that pollen mites can smother bees and drain them and the parasitic houdini fly; Cacoxenus indagator is another common one which will deplete the stores given for the bees egg. We need to do all we can to assist the bees to survive, weather alone is bad enough and lack of forage due to diminishing gardens and wild areas. nurturing-nature.co.uk/wildlife-garden-videos/cacoxenus-indagator-a-cleptoparasite-of-red-mason-bees-video/

[@sallywood8265]

wow im really seeing a youtube video by my friends dad:)

[@bradleywoods3742]

3:35 zebra jumping spider was displaying to another jumping spider. Perhaps courtship?

[@PoorLeno101]

Good spot!!

[@Narnendil]

I only ever get solitary wasps in my hotels and no solitary bees, is there any reason for that? I have both drilled holes in logs (many different sizes 4-10 mm) and bamboo sticks and I have seen about 4 different solitary bee species on my balcony flowers, but only the solitary wasps seem to want to use the hotels. The solitary wasps are welcome as well, but I would just like to have some bees too.

[@Tatterdemalion-77]

Best time of year to clean them out? If there is an opening, is that the indication that it’s 100% and vacated? If not cleaned out, will bees excavate the old nest tubes and reuse them?

[@bwilliams9399]

I'd like to know the answer to this too for my own hives

[@boazmagal9199]

I am in the Souther Hemi and heading inot winter. Is there a point setting up hotel now or shall I wait for Sep?

[@barryunderwood2900]

Great video Dave, I've pre-ordered your book from Waterstones.

[@helenhawkins4054]

I know what I’m doing this week !

[@raymondkilminster2194]

.loved the video david. i make all my bee and wasp nesting Habitats with drilled wood or cut stems . i find the ones you buy never seem deep enough to me . this year and last year i had a bumper crop of Mason bees . so the hard work of drilling does pay off . although i notice my leaf cutter bees seemed to be down a bit last year . Did you notice any drop in leaf cutter bees in your garden last year or it may just be me .

[@darshnarach8889]

Have you had any problems with mourning bees?

[@petergurney2834]

What's the name of the garden shrub you used for the bamboo-like stems? You mention it at 3:15, ta

[@davegoulson6831]

Lycesteria

[@thomashayward3286]

Do you ever get stung

[@davegoulson6831]

These Osmia don't seem able to penetrate human skin, even if they wanted to.

[@wildlifegardener-tracey6206]

Do they need to face in any particular direction?

[@kristofvd3202]

Does not matter, from my experience, somewhat south. My Osmia cornuta population likes the evening sun, WSW. But I have several other houses hanging to the SSE, every hole gets filled 🤣 even the tools in de garden shed.

[@davegoulson6831]

South is best, but not vital

[@GaryTheGardener71]

I've been making various bumblebee boxes and solitary bee nests but I also want to encourage more Mason bees as we always seem to have some nesting in the mortar joints of the house (assuming they actually are Mason bees!!!) . So I've been drilling holes here and there in our south facing garden walls. I was hoping that I was doing the right thing so I took a look on Google for more info..... only to find that most posts relating to Mason bees are about how to get rid of them and kill them off!!! There seem to be lots of pest control companies out there who will gladly kill Mason bees 😡😡😡

[@davegoulson6831]

We humans still have a long way to go before we learn to live with nature, rather than always trying to control and kill it.... But on behaf of the bees, thanks for the homes you are creating!!

[@GaryTheGardener71]

@@davegoulson6831 We sure do Dave! I've been busy drilling holes of varying sizes in walls, fence posts etc and have been stuffing cans with bamboo and Leycesteria prunings. I'll let you know how it goes. I've moved away from ornamental plants/flowers to more native species. Replaced my lawn with clovers and have generally stopped being so fussy about neatness in the garden👍 Dave, has the BBCT ever conducted any studies in Northern Ireland? Thanks