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Bug Hotels: Hospitality for Gardens

The first time I ever saw a bug hotel was in the yard of my nephew's house.  His wife, Kay, is one of the best urban homesteaders I've ever met.

Her bug hotel was about the size of a Victorian doll house, had a moss roof and was work of art. I was enchanted.

A bug house (or hotel) provides winter habitat for beneficial insects who, in turn, swarm awake in the spring, lay eggs and sweep your organic garden clear of aphids and mites. That's the theory anyway.

"I first learned about bug/pollinator houses when taking a hike at a preserve, " Kay said. "They had a huge bug house on display.  It was really like a functional piece of artwork."

Although she always wanted to create one, it wasn't until some neighbors started complaining about carpenter bees and discussing sprays to kill them that she decided to get to work. Other neighbors, who were advocates for pollinators and native plants and had made their farm a pollinator haven, served as inspiration.

With some research online and a check for materials on hand, Kay started to create. She used pallets and scrap lumber to build a structure with different levels where she could stuff in various materials. Those she found with the help of Craigslist and neighbors. The layers of her bug house used broken pottery, bamboo, grasses and old bricks stuffed in the crevices. There is room to keep adding things.

To create the moss roof, she filled wooden tray-like structures with dirt and gradually added different mosses.

Mason bee home
A mason bee snug.

Mason bees have taken up residence in the bamboo sections and voles and a chipmunk live underneath, Kay said. Carolina wrens lurk inside, although Kay isn't sure if they are nesting or believe they've found the Golden Arches of bird fast food.

"I think a more appropriate name would be a 'wildlife' house and I'm happy for this."

The only thing she said she would do differently is place it in an area with more sun.  She's considering building another closer to her vegetable garden.

My friend Tom Coman in Oklahoma is in his first year of hosting a bug hotel. He was inspired to get a bug hotel by watching a Growing a Greener World video online.  He bought two pollinator hotels at Costco in the early spring. One he installed at his daughter's house and the second in his own backyard.

"It has yet to attract guests," he said. "In the past, (pollinator) wasps have used a power strip for their eggs."

Tom reports that his backyard also hosts pest-eating black widow spiders. "They are neighbors, not friends you want to have an interpersonal relationship with," he added.

One of the biggest impediments to a bug hotel at Fink Farms is Farmer Karen's dislike of bees. This is unfortunate, given that the United Nations estimated in 2016 that nearly 40% of insect pollinators are in danger of becoming extinct. That could have drastic consequences on our food supplies and on plant and animal life.

I haven't yet persuaded her that Mason bees, common residents of bug hotels, are different. Unlike other types of bees, Mason bees are solitary. Every female is a queen, who seeks pollen and cares for her own eggs rather than relying on an army of bees in a hive to run a bee nursery. Mason bees are amazing pollinators, not aggressive and if pushed to sting have only a mild venom.

Depending on your climate, a mason bee house does require some maintenance.

One of the fun aspects of bug hotels is ease and creativity that goes into setting them up. David Domoney, a British horticulturist with a TV show, has created a wonderful guide to do-it-yourself bug hotels.

His ideas range from beautiful hanging bug houses to habitats as a simple as coiled corrugated cardboard inside a plastic beverage bottle with the bottom cut off to a bunch of pine cones gathered up in chicken wire and hung from a tree to attract lady bugs. His guide also lists a variety of materials that can be put in sections of a bug hotel to attract different species.
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