A great way to help support the native bees in your area is to provide nesting habitat. I build thoughtfully designed houses in which native solitary bees can nest year after year! While you may have seen solitary bee houses or “hotels” out there, be sure to do your research. Some mass produced solitary bee homes are designed poorly, and can cause buildup of disease and parasites which can then spread throughout local populations.
In order to provide nesting space for native bees responsibly, it is important that nesting tunnels can be opened up and bee cocoons and tunnels can be cleaned each year. Many bee houses also lack proper protection from rain, which can promote mold and disease. My bee houses are designed to keep bees safe and dry while making proper care of the bees that use them easy and fun!
Many commercially available bee houses also only cater to one or two sizes of native bees, but bees come in all shapes and sizes! My goal was to create a house that could accommodate nesting blocks with many different size tunnels to reflect the diversity of life in our environment. The houses are handmade from locally harvested cedar that is safe for the bees and will hold up for years outdoors.
What kind of bees use bee houses?
Most native bee species are what we call solitary, meaning an individual bee works alone to raise her young, without the help of other bees of her species. Many types of solitary bees will nest in tunnels in the ground, old plant reeds, or in tunnels made by birds in trees. These species will often also take well to tunnels made by humans in wooden blocks.
Some common types of solitary bees that will nest in provided nesting blocks:
Mason bees
Mason bees get their name because they collect and use mud in their nesting tunnels. They are one of the most commonly raised solitary bees that nest in bee houses.
Polyester bees
Polyester bees produce a material very similar to plastic to use as a nesting material in tunnels. These bees are very small compared to many other bee species and will use the smaller tunnels in a nesting block.
Leafcutter bees
Leafcutters cut scraps of leaves and petals to take back to the nest. Baby bees grow wrapped up in leafy cocoons within the tunnels. Another common tunnel nesting bee.
Wool carder bees
Wool carder bees collect the fuzz from wooly plants like lamb’s ears to use in their nesting tunnels. These bees are on the larger side and will use bigger size tunnels in nesting blocks.