Did you know the U.S. Geological Survey reported that there are 4,000 species of bees native to the United States? The rise of native garden planting has led to more people creating and buying bee houses. However, store-bought "hotels" may not be as welcome to bees as marketed.
The r/GardenWild community on Reddit is full of folks dedicated to creating wildlife-friendly gardens. Many people have worked to rewild their lawns in recent years, planting native flora, and adding in sanctuaries for local wildlife, including pollinators. One Redditor shared some helpful advice for how to spot an effective — or not-so-effective — bee house.
The article linked to the post comes from Colin Purrington, who has a "blog with nature photography, biology-related projects, and geeky tips." In this post about bee houses, he shares 16 tips for why your bee habitat may be a house of horrors.
Many of the tips are about the shape, size, and hollowness of the tubes most bee nests include. Hollow tubes are the perfect habitat for carpenter or mason bees, but not all tubes are created equal. To be adequate habitat, these tubes need to be closed in the back, hollow all the way through, and removable.
Purrington wrote: "Because the nesting material cannot be removed and cleaned, over time there will be an increase in the population of parasitic wasps, parasitic bees, parasitic flies, kleptoparasitic mites, fungi, bacteria, and viruses."
Unfortunately, some bees will still use these convenient habitats, meaning your bee house may be making your local bees sick. However, if you have removable tubes, you can replace them and clean the whole structure to give bees the best chances to lay their eggs and grow up nice and strong.
If you're thinking of adding bee habitat to your yard, be wary of construction and packing, these can both signal less-than-optimal bee homes.
Other Redditors were interested to learn more about these bee habitats. One commenter said: "Thanks for sharing!"
Someone else wrote: "I always find it confusing that bug hotels are promoted to benefit butterflies."
The original poster added: "You want your bee hotel to be easily cleanable, securely fastened, and more water permeable than bamboo or plastic."
It's inspiring to see how many people are trying to protect bees and make their gardens home to local wildlife.
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