Pollinator Hotels
/Pollinator Hotels
You have probably seen them periodically on the internet, fancy pollinator hotels that attract a variety of native pollinators including native bees, butterflies and wasps.
I have yet to see one with a lot of renters using it but then most native pollinators, such as native bees, are solitary. Nevertheless, I do check the simple ones I have in my garden and find even simple ones attract tenants throughout the growing season. Let's take a look at a few homemade pollinator hotels.
This first one was made by a local master gardener using an old piece of furniture, license plates and cleaning out wood pieces from his workshop.
The front is covered with wire to keep curious night time visitors from pulling bamboo sticks and other pieces out of the cabinet.
A collection of license plates was repurposed into a handy roof, giving the furniture piece good cover.
If this is too ambitious of a project, here is a simpler use of a license plate pollinator hotel, a circular piece of wood with a license plate roof cover.
I also like this mason bee house made by a colleague several years ago as a Christmas gift. The simple design can be made in a shorter version with a roof covered in a license plate if you have extra ones.
This one will get covered in a climbing red rose in another month or so.
And even simpler, this little boxy pollinator hotel features bamboo pieces with a small center circle and a wooden roof.
My roof separated last winter so I just put a shim in the space, then painted it. Didn't want to go into extensive renovations or I might miss out on the main pollinating rental season!
If you don't want to make a pollinator house, you can find a number of them available at home and garden centers. They are a wonderful way to welcome native pollinators to your garden!
Charlotte