SERIES 28 | Episode 20



By providing food and water in your garden, you can encourage native bees to visit. By making them a hotel, you can encourage them to stay!

There are more than 1500 species of native bees in Australia and they play an important environmental role pollinating plants. To encourage native bees into the garden, Sophie is converting an old television into some accommodation - a bee hotel! Different species of bee have different housing requirements, so Sophie is building a mixed material hotel.

BEE WILD NESTING USE... CARPENTER BEE Xylocopa spp. Builds nest into dead pithy stems Blackberries, hydrangeas, grapevines, dried fennel stems held together in a larger piece of bamboo LEAFCUTTER BEE Megachile sp. Borer holes Drill holes into cut logs BLUE-BANDED BEE Amagilla cingulate Burrow into clay-rich soils Sifted clay packed into earthenware pipes or concrete building blocks

HOW TO MAKE A BEE HOTEL

Materials

You'll need...

A weather proof house, Sophie is using an old CRT (Cathode Ray Tube) television.*

Corflute Sheet (also known as project panel - available from hardware stores). Attach this to the inside ceiling of the bee hotel to keep the rain out.

A range of different diameter materials eg terracotta pipe, bamboo stalks, clay-filled pipes to fill the television casing (see below).

Positioning the Bee Hotel

The native bee hotel should ideally be facing between the north and east, in a sunny to semi-shaded position that is sheltered, above 1 metre off the ground, but no higher than 2 metres. Make sure it won't get too hot in summer. Don't forget to provide lots of food and water for your bees. For ideas on plants that attract bees, see Costa's story,

Bring in the Bees .

Assemble the Bee Hotel

Arrange the different nesting materials by evenly spacing the habitat types within the television casing. Pack it tightly so nothing moves. Fill in any gaps with bundles of pithy stems and bamboo pieces.

Fennel stems - Strip foliage from main stem and then cut stem into lengths making sure there is at least 10 - 15 centimetres of pithy stem between joints. Tie cut pieces together with twine and place them in the 'hotel.'

Strip foliage from main stem and then cut stem into lengths making sure there is at least 10 - 15 centimetres of pithy stem between joints. Tie cut pieces together with twine and place them in the 'hotel.' Bamboo hollows - Cut bamboo stalks into sections leaving 10 - 15 cm of hollow stem between joints with an enclosed end to entice the bees.

Cut bamboo stalks into sections leaving 10 - 15 cm of hollow stem between joints with an enclosed end to entice the bees. Drilled logs - Use untreated sections of cut logs. Using a variety of drill bits ranging from 3 mm - 8 mm, drill holes into log to a depth of at least 10 cm. Space the holes around 2 cm apart. Use sharp drill bits to minimise burrs to keep the tunnels smooth and inviting.

Use untreated sections of cut logs. Using a variety of drill bits ranging from 3 mm - 8 mm, drill holes into log to a depth of at least 10 cm. Space the holes around 2 cm apart. Use sharp drill bits to minimise burrs to keep the tunnels smooth and inviting. Clay packed pipes and blocks - Pack sifted clay into earthenware pipes or concrete blocks. Using a poker that is 8mm wide, push holes into clay around 10 - 15cm deep into the pipe.

* PLEASE NOTE: Extreme caution should be taken when dismantling old CRT (cathode ray tube) TVs and it's recommended that this is carried out by a suitably qualified person.