Attracting beneficial insects to the garden doesn’t have to stop with flowers. ‘Insect hotels’ can provide suitable shelter in small gardens or while waiting for plant species to mature.
Habitat Value: Level 3
Shelter
Provide a home for pollinators and small critters is a fairly high value ReWild action and insects can colonise these habitats quickly.
Including smart water features and flowering plants in the garden to encourage the use of these boxes.
The Level 3 habitat value reflects the importance of reintroducing shelter and refuge to native species. This is central to the ReWild purpose.
Planting suitable food for pollinators and small critters is the first step in attracting beneficial insects to the garden. Insect hotels go one step further in providing shelter and breeding sites for beneficial insects including blue banded bees, lady birds, and leafcutter bees.
Insect Hotel Templates
A garden should ideally have four or five different insect hotels dotted around the place, rather than one large hotel.
Several smaller hotels dotted around the garden lessens the risk of disease spread, predation, or invasion from other insects (like Cuckoo Wasps and Cuckoo Bees).
Bug Hotel – Nest box
Bee Hotel – Nest box
Bee Hotel Pot – Nest box
Bee Hotel Brick – Nest box
Bee Hotel Bamboo – Nest box
Below are several templates for different pollinators and small critters. We have included nesting box designs in the ‘Habitat’ section of our animal resources – check out the Blue Banded Bee page for an example.
