B & B
for the bugs!
– by Heley-Bee
Are you an avid gardener who would like to entice insects such as bees and ladybugs to your garden? Or would you simply like to help take care of our bugs and create a bit of garden art in the process?
Then why not consider undertaking this exciting project – one that the children will enjoy helping with too.
Introducing the Bug Hotel
Building a bug hotel, as they’re most commonly known, will encourage a variety of insects to take up tenancy who need somewhere to hibernate or find shelter from the colder weather.
Come the spring, they’ll be on hand to take on some of those super-
important jobs like pollinating, mulching, and aphid-munching!
The steps to making a bug hotel are very simple:
Build a “hotel” (or in my case, upcycle something laying around!) out of wood. Knowing where in the garden you want this to go will help you decide on the best size before you start to build. Some larger hotels, if you have the space, can be constructed using wooden pallets – layering each one onto bricks – please ensure this is very stable and sits solidly on the ground. As part of your design, add in compartments, to be filled using a variety of natural materials. The children will really enjoy helping you with this part: They can treasure hunt around the house/local park, for things like straw, dead leaves, rounds of wood (with holes drilled to house solitary bees and wasps), rolled up cardboard, bark, pieces of terracotta, bricks, and so forth. Next, position the new accommodation – preferably partially in the sun and partially in a shady, but sheltered place. (If you have to secure your bug hotel to a fence or tree, using nails or screws, you will need to do this first and then fill it…make sure it’s nice and solid so there’s no shaking your beasties out of bed if your hotel moves!!) Along with those insects already mentioned, this can supply lodging for earwigs (eeewww, but they’re very useful for munching up dead insects, live and decomposing plant material), spiders, and wood-lice.
Insects play a vital role in taking care of our gardens and plants. And a nice warm bug hotel also provides a place where some of them will nest and lay
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