Unlike a single nest box or a hive of bees, many different species live side by side in an insect hotel. With different filling material for the individual compartments, you can provide every species with the right shelter. If you follow the tips on this page, you will soon be able to enjoy watching the hustle and bustle in front of your insect hotel.
Wild bees are often found in insect hotels
Common insect species in the hotel
- wild bees and wasps
- ladybugs, lacewings and earwigs
- butterflies
wild bees and wasps
Wild bees and wasps are only part of the inhabitants of an insect hotel. Nevertheless, this insect species alone includes many different genera. Bees like to use the shelter to deposit their brood in the dwelling. You can recognize this by the closed holes. But be careful, while bees are peaceful residents, most wasp species are net predators. They pierce through the seals of other animals to lay their own brood in the lair. The bee larvae are a welcome delicacy.
In order for the winged insects to feel comfortable, it is best to line the compartment with cones, pierced wood, bricks or hollow bamboo sticks. Make sure that the holes are all clean so that the bees don't injure their wings on cracked edges.
ladybugs, lacewings and earwigs
Attracting these insect species to your own garden is definitely worthwhile. Ladybugs in particular feed on plant pests on your flowers. They therefore replace any fungicides in a completely natural way. Lacewings, on the other hand, attract attention with their beautiful appearance. The filigree wings shimmer at dusk. Ladybugs, lacewings and earwigs like to spend the winter in an insect hotel.(11.33€) Therefore, the filling material in the relevant compartments should above all store heat. Wood wool optimally fulfills these criteria. Mostly parcel deliveries are padded in the soft material. Just pick up some of it. However, it is important that the wood wool is untreated.
butterflies
They are the harbingers of summer par excellence and bring color to the garden with their shimmering wings. Setting up a compartment for butterflies is easy. The moths prefer thin branches in which they can hide.
Note: As the example of nest-robbing wasps shows, there are good and bad neighbors in an insect hotel. Of course, eating each other is subject to the laws of nature. Nevertheless, you should set up the compartments for individual insect species in layers and not directly next to each other.
Do spiders live in my insect hotel?
Many insect lovers discover dead spider bodies in front of the entrance to their insect hotel. Then the assumption is obvious that the animals have shed their skin here and are now also inhabiting the shelter. In reality, however, it is only leftover food from some bee and wasp species. They give their brood the spiders to eat. After the body has been sucked out, it is disposed of "in front of the door".