Bee hotel
Bee hotels are a type of insect hotel for solitary pollinator bees, or wasps, providing them rest and shelter.[1] Typically, these bees would nest in hollow plant stems, holes in dead wood, or other natural cavities; a bee hotel attempts to mimic this structure by using a bunch of hollow reeds or holes drilled in wood, among other methods.[1] Bee hotels can possibly support native bee and wasp populations by adding nesting resources to a habitat.[1] However, some activists have criticized bee hotels for being ineffective at rehabilitating native bee populations and possibly harming them by providing homes to invasive species and creating grounds where bees can transmit diseases to one another.[2] Bee hotels generally only support a small proportion of bee species, as 75% of wild bees breed underground, e.g. sand bees, long-horned bees, silk bees, furrow bees and narrow bees. [3]
Beehive and bee hotel difference
[edit]A beehive is where bee colonies or communities live and raise; a bee hotel's purpose is to solely attract bees that do not make their homes in colonies, but instead build individual nesting sites of their own, referred to as "solitary bees."[4]
Construction and care
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Bee hotels are constructed in a manner to mimic the real life structures that solitary bees nest in. They incorporate reeds, bamboo or other materials to create a bundle of horizontal tubes, open at one end, closed at the other.[5] These horizontal tubes range 12-20 cm in length, and 2-12 mm in diameter.[5] Most bees require tube diameters of 5mm and less.[6] These nested tubes require maintenance and cleanliness as bees in hotel are more susceptible to disease, such as the spread of chalkbrood.
However, bee hotels could also provide homes to invasive species and species of wasps that predate on bees, making predation from parasitic wasps and kleptoparasites more likely than in naturally built nests.[7][8]
Dead, walled-up cells from previous years should be removed. Bee cells taken over by the parasitic Cacoxenus indagator fly should also be removed to prevent spreading.[9] Be careful when selecting the wood to construct your bee hotel, as certain woods may not provide sufficient weather protection, especially in wet weather.[9] Certain woods are also more prone to splintering inside the tunnel.[9] In general, softwoods such as pine and spruce are unsuitable because they secrete resin and are also very soft and difficult to drill. Wood from fruit trees, beech, and oak are well suited. Avoid drilling into the front side of the wood, as this causes the wood fibers to absorb water and also makes them more susceptible to cracking during drying. The cracks allow moisture to penetrate and lead to fungus growth in the brood cells.
A very safe material is unglazed clay, which has ideally been fired in such a way that it still has open pores, allowing air to circulate. This allows the growing bee larvae to breathe and at the same time prevents mold growth. In addition, birds have no chance of accessing the brood tunnels or pulling out stalks. Parasites are also unable to burrow into the tunnels from the side. The hole sizes range from 3mm to 8mm and focus on the small holes, thereby promoting particularly smaller bee species, like masked bees, Heriades, Chelostoma and blue mason bee.
Studies and use
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Approximately 30% of the 5,000 native bee species in North America build nests in tunnels or cavities situated above ground.[10]
The 2021 scientific publication Worldwide occurrence records suggest a global decline in bee species richness indicates a downwards trend in the global bee population.[11] In order to try and reverse the perceived reduction in bee numbers, some people construct bee hotels.[12]
A study of 200 bee hotels undertaken by melittologist Laurence Packer and Scott MacIvor from York University indicated that 50% of bee hotels in their study were dominated by wasps. Bees, unlike wasps, favour hotels that receive direct (especially morning) sunlight, and that are closer to the ground. Bee hotels located on multi-storey building rooftops and in shaded areas are more likely to attract wasps. The study critiqued poorly designed and maintained bee hotels, noting that plastic tubes can be a catalyst for mould, short tubes can discourage female bees, and proximity of spiders can reduce bee populations. Peter Hallett, a melittologist from the University of Toronto noted that the wasps observed in the study were not yellowjackets, but solitary wasps that are generally perceived more positively in North America.[13]
Melittologist Cory Sheffield of the Royal Saskatchewan Museum observed more positive trends in bee hotels used by bees in orchards in Nova Scotia and noted that some of the problems from the Toronto study were unique to cities. Both Cory Sheffield and Laurence Packer encouraged creation of bee hotels, despite the issues identified in the Toronto study.[13] A Canadian study of 200 bee hotels in Toronto indicated that 50% of hotels were dominated by wasps, 25% by invasive, and 25% by natives.
References
[edit]- ^ a b c "What is a Bee Hotel? | NC State Extension Publications". content.ces.ncsu.edu. Retrieved 2024-02-18.
- ^ Garrido, Claudia (2020-09-25). "Bee hotels - the good, the bad, and the ugly". BeeSafe. Retrieved 2024-02-18.
- ^ "Kleine Wildbienenkunde". NABU (in German). 2025-06-25. Retrieved 2025-06-28.
- ^ "Bee Hotels". Heritage Museums & Gardens. Retrieved 2023-11-15.
- ^ a b Building and managing bee hotels for wild bees, Julia Brokaw and Rufus Isaacs. Department of Entomology, Michigan State University, Extension Bulletin E-3337, June 2017
- ^ Westrich, Paul Dr.. (2016-08-12), "Lochgrößen für Nisthilfen" (PDF), BUND RLP, Bund Umwelt und Naturschutz Deutschland, retrieved 2025-07-24
- ^ "Managing your bee hotel" (PDF). Penn State College of Agricultural Sciences Center for Pollinator Research. Retrieved 10 May 2023.
- ^ Kelley, Judith G. (2012-03-25), "The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly", Monitoring Democracy, Princeton University Press, doi:10.23943/princeton/9780691152776.003.0009, ISBN 978-0-691-15277-6, retrieved 2023-11-28
- ^ a b c "Make a Bee Hotel - The Pollinator Garden". www.foxleas.com. Retrieved 2023-11-15.
- ^ “Tunnel Nests for Native Bees - Xerces Society.” Tunnel Nests for Native Bees, xerces.org/sites/default/files/2018-05/13-054_02_XercesSoc_Tunnel-Nests-for-Native-Bees_web.pdf. Accessed 28 Nov. 2023.
- ^ Zattara, Eduardo E.; Aizen, Marcelo A. (2021-01-22). "Worldwide occurrence records suggest a global decline in bee species richness". One Earth. 4 (1): 114–123. Bibcode:2021OEart...4..114Z. doi:10.1016/j.oneear.2020.12.005. hdl:11336/183742. ISSN 2590-3330. S2CID 234124777.
- ^ Morawski, Bridget Reed (2022-07-26). "3 Things to Know About Urban Beekeeping". Architectural Digest. Retrieved 2022-08-02.
- ^ a b Hammadi, Sawas Younus; Ali, Ameeda (2022). "Role of some microbes and fungal species to treat different infections caused by other microorganisms". Microbial Science Archives. 02 (1): 05–08. doi:10.47587/msa.2022.2102. ISSN 2583-1666.