Bee hotels are a type of

insect hotel An insect hotel, also known as a bug hotel or insect house, is a manmade structure created to provide shelter for insects. They can come in a variety of shapes and sizes depending on the specific purpose or specific insect it is catered to. Mo ...

for solitary pollinator

bees Bees are winged insects closely related to wasps and ants, known for their roles in pollination and, in the case of the best-known bee species, the western honey bee, for producing honey. Bees are a monophyletic lineage within the superfamil ...

, or wasps, providing them rest and shelter. 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. Bee hotels can possibly support native bee and wasp populations by adding nesting resources to a habitat. 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.

Beehive and bee hotel difference

beehive A beehive is an enclosed structure which houses honey bees, subgenus '' Apis.'' Honey bees live in the beehive, raising their young and producing honey as part of their seasonal cycle. Though the word ''beehive'' is used to describe the nest of ...

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."

Construction and care

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.Building and managing bee hotels for wild bees
Julia Brokaw and Rufus Isaacs. Department of Entomology,

Michigan State University Michigan State University (Michigan State or MSU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in East Lansing, Michigan, United States. It was founded in 1855 as the Agricultural College of the State o ...

, Extension Bulletin E-3337, June 2017 These horizontal tubes range 12-20 cm in length, and 2-12 mm in diameter. 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 Parasitoid wasps are a large group of hymenopteran superfamilies, with all but the wood wasps ( Orussoidea) being in the wasp-waisted Apocrita. As parasitoids, they lay their eggs on or in the bodies of other arthropods, sooner or later ca ...

and kleptoparasites more likely than in naturally built nests. Dead, walled-up cells from previous years should be removed. Bee cells taken over by the parasitic

Cacoxenus indagator ''Cacoxenus indagator'' is a species of fruit fly native to central and southern Europe. It is a kleptoparasite, laying its eggs in the pollen-filled nest cells of mason bee Mason bee is a name now commonly used for species of bees in the ge ...

fly should also be removed to prevent spreading. Be careful when selecting the wood to construct your bee hotel, as certain woods may not provide sufficient weather protection, especially in wet weather. Certain woods are also more prone to splintering inside the tunnel.

Studies and use

Approximately 30% of the 5,000 native bee species in

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere, Northern and Western Hemisphere, Western hemispheres. North America is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South Ameri ...

build nests in tunnels or cavities situated above ground. The 2021 scientific publication ''Worldwide occurrence records suggest a global decline in bee species richness'' indicates a downwards trend in the global bee population. In order to try and reverse the perceived reduction in bee numbers, some people construct bee hotels. A study of 200 bee hotels undertaken by melittologist Laurence Packer and Scott MacIvor from

York University York University (), also known as YorkU or simply YU), is a public university, public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is Canada's third-largest university, and it has approximately 53,500 students, 7,000 faculty and staff, ...

indicated that 50% of bee hotels in their study were dominated by

wasps A wasp is any insect of the narrow-waisted suborder Apocrita of the order Hymenoptera which is neither a bee nor an ant; this excludes the broad-waisted sawflies (Symphyta), which look somewhat like wasps, but are in a separate suborder. Th ...

. 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, narrower tubes can discourage female bees, and proximity of spiders can reduce bee populations. Peter Hallett, a melittologist from the

University of Toronto The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public university, public research university whose main campus is located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park (Toronto), Queen's Park in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It was founded by ...

noted that the wasps observed in the study were not

yellowjackets A yellowjacket is a black-and-yellow vespid wasp. Yellowjacket(s) or Yellow Jacket(s) may also refer to: Places * Yellow Jacket, Colorado, an unincorporated town * Yellow Jacket, Florida, an unincorporated area in Dixie County, Florida Arts, ...

, but solitary wasps that are generally perceived more positively in North America. Melittologist Cory Sheffield of the

Royal Saskatchewan Museum The Royal Saskatchewan Museum (RSM) is a Canadian natural history museum in Regina, Saskatchewan. Founded in 1906, it is the first museum in Saskatchewan and the first Provincial and territorial museums of Canada, provincial museum among the thr ...

observed more positive trends in bee hotels used by bees in orchards in

Nova Scotia Nova Scotia is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada, located on its east coast. It is one of the three Maritime Canada, Maritime provinces and Population of Canada by province and territory, most populous province in Atlan ...

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. 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

{{Authority Control Insect conservation Nature conservation Nature conservation in Canada Beekeeping