This world needs more than just soil, water and sun in order to remain green. And bees as pollinators play one of the most important parts of our ecosystem. Did you know that at least 30% of the world’s crop and 90% of all plants need cross-pollination in order to thrive? No? Well, without these little heroes pollinating the plants our tables would be empty and we would eventually go extinct as well.
Sadly, there are more than 4,000 species of bees that are native to North America but are losing their habitats by the day. More and more time passes, this leads to a big decline in population. What’s even scarier is the fact that if we don’t do anything to preserve their lives, we may lose ours as well.
Right now, they need us as much as we need them!
So, building bee hotels in order to help continue their mission on earth seems like the most important thing you can do for them. Yes, you read it right. There is a thing called a bee hotel, and each and every one of us can do it.
Bee hotels are usually made out of boxes that are then filled with pinecones, sticks, and logs with holes drilled in them and pretty much anything that could help them do their job. If you have no idea what you could use to create a bee house, here are a few simple things that you probably have at home that you could definitely use:
1.Mason jars. Find some leftover jars in your home and fill them with small tubes or bamboo cuts. Use mud or something else to secure them. This will create a small, yet very meaningful, living space for the bees. You can put it in your garden or somewhere out of reach so it would be safer for the bees.
2.Cardboard and clay pots. Find cardboard boxes and put pinecones, sticks in it, secure them and create a hibernating zone for the bees. Make a few of them and glue them all together to create a beautiful unit from recycled materials. Don’t be afraid to get creative.
3.Winebox. Instead of throwing your wine box, use it to create a unique bee house from it. Fill it with wood, bamboo canes and bits of cardboard. Secure all of those pieces with mud or different kinds of material and place it somewhere no one could reach.
4.Concrete blocks. Believe it or not, you can also use cinder blocks to create the bee hotel that you want. You can fill the gaps of the blocks with wood drilled with holes or bamboo stalks in order to create the nesting areas for them.
5.Old bird homes and license plates. If you need a roof for your bee hotel than you can definitely use some old license plates to do that. If you also have an old, abandoned birdhouse, you can use that as well. Remove the walls from the house and attach logs with holes drilled in them. Adding some bamboo stalks will make more space for them. Use the license plates to create the roof and voila, you’ve made your first bee hotel.
Don’t forget to make a bee waterer for them and plant as many flowers as you can!
Source: Ong-Mat
