Building your own bee box:

A bee box is above all a holder of natural tubing materials, or tubes, that a solitary bee can use as a nest for the duration of one year. Any number of containers and materials can be used, so long as a few principles are followed:

• Tubing should be made of natural materials (paper, cardboard, wood, bamboo, not plastic) with holes 3/32" - 1/2" and 3-7" long, depending on the size of bee

• Containers need an overhang to protect tubes from rain (they can have a cover, or be placed in a tree or under an overhang)

• Insert tubes until they are all firmly in place - if some are still loose, use wood skewers to wedge them in place

• Alternatively, you can also drill holes of different sizes into wood as a home

• For my project, most of the materials were reused: cans our local recycler helped recover, bamboo neighbors pruned for us to use, and donated paper straws. my wood came from recycled fencing.

Where to place your bee box:

• Place your box 3-7 feet above ground

• The box should not move in the wind, it should be stable

• Have the box in a sunny stop facing Eastward toward the sunrise, to prevent the box overheating during the day

• Mount it to a wall or tree

• Have flowers, native plants, or a garden nearby to feed the bees!

Cleaning and maintenance:

• In the winter to spring, take a look at your bee hotel. Capped holes mean there are babies in there! 

• If a capped hole has a little opening, then the bees have hatched out and the hole is ready for cleaning

• Use a stiff piece of wire to clear the length of the tube for reuse

• If you can, the best way to clean bee boxes and renew them is to unpack your tubes, clean them and dip them in 70% isopropyl alcohol, which will kill any parasitic mites that could infect bees.