If you want to offer an insect hotel in the garden, you have a wide range of options. Such dwellings can be easily built and filled by yourself. However, the filling materials should be well chosen in order to offer the insects good protection.
A variety of materials in the insect hotel offers every guest what they need
These materials are suitable as filling:
- **Wood*: provides versatile base materials and structures
- volume: easy to handle mass
- Clay: provides an ideal raw material for self-builders
- bamboo: as light filling material
- cones: not suitable for wild bee hotels
wood
Thick branches and stems are the perfect material for insects that like to nest in cavities. You can use broomstick rounds as well as elderberry twigs, which you let dry well before use. Wooden blocks also provide a basis for the insect hotel. (11.33€) Drill holes in these materials, the diameter of which varies between three and six millimeters. You can drill as deep as the drill will allow.
volume
Clay blocks from the craft store are easy to work with and are readily accepted in the apiary. Use various tools such as knitting needles, steel nails or drills that have different diameters for the holes. As the clay works, the fresh holes will change over time. After about a week, re-drill them with rotating movements.
Clay
There are wild bee species that dig their own tunnels. Therefore, you should also offer raw materials in the dwelling that the insects can process. Clay with a higher proportion of sand is suitable for this. As a result, it retains a soft structure. This is ideal if you can scratch holes in it with your fingernail after drying. However, the substrate should not be too crumbly.
bamboo
Bamboo pieces about eight centimeters long offer various species a place to retreat and nest. A depth of six centimeters is the minimum. The drill should have a slightly smaller diameter than the bamboo stalk. The stem may be open on both sides as the rear end will be pressed onto a layer of tile adhesive. This means the material is firmly anchored and woodpeckers cannot pull out the tubes to get at the maggots. Make sure the cutting surface facing forward is completely smooth.
cones
Fir, pine and spruce cones are a common material in nest boxes, but they are only of limited use as filling. Ladybugs, lacewings and earwigs adopt these structures to rest or survive the winter. However, earwigs are considered pollen thieves, which will find an abundant food source in your wild bee hotel. Since such garden dwellers prove to be useful aphid hunters, consider placing separate dwellings with the seed dispersal units between infested plants.
tips
Fill nets with cones and hang them in trees, in the greenhouse or in outdoor beds. Make sure you keep a reasonable distance from the wild bee house.