How to Make a Hotel for Insects?

Hotel for insects - design and construction

It is well known that domestic bees are extremely important animals. Less well known, however, is that many other insects do not lag far behind in their benefits. Bumblebees and wild solitary bees are also pollinators, without which many plants would be left without fruit. Let's not forget the ladybirds and woodpeckers, which eat thousands of aphids and thus help to maintain balance in nature.

INSECT HOTEL IN A PRIVATE GARDEN BY THE RIVER BOUTIQUE HOTEL SUNROSE 7

Unfortunately, beneficial insects in well-groomed gardens often do not find a suitable home and are therefore avoided in a big way. To rest, insects need piles of dry leaves, twigs, dead wood, small spaces between pebbles and cone scales, wall cracks, fallen bark and the like, which is usually not the case in a landscaped and raked garden…

Such and similar hiding places and their resting places can be replaced by houses specially made for them: hotels for insects.

Construction of a new hotel in Bohinj

Insects are actually very demanding hotel guests. They do not like artificial materials, on top of everything, each type of insect has very special requirements. Some species like stone and brick, others are fond of perforated wood, and still others prefer to spend the night between straw and dry moss. Therefore, in order to provide maximum comfort to all six- and multi-legged guests, the hotel must have several differently equipped rooms. And we designed just such a hotel for insects in Bohinj.

Making a hotel for insects

Material for rooms is found in every forest. We need cones, twigs, hollow plant stems, dry moss and grass. We can also use perforated bricks, which are also unfortunately often found on forest cart tracks, where they are thrown by unscrupulous people. The perimeter of the hotel is made of larch wood, as this wood is known for its resistance to weather conditions and is very durable even in the harsh mountain world.

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Because each type of insect has its own requirements and because some insects do not like each other, I made several hotels. The small hotels are made of simple beech logs, which have small holes drilled and a larch roof for protection from the rain. The slightly larger hotel has a spruce perimeter, and the interior is filled with ceramic shards for insects, which like to hide among the rocks. They are protected from greedy birds by a metal net. The main material for the largest, luxury hotel in Bohinj for insects is larch wood. On the ground floor of the insect hotel is a brick I found discarded in the woods, stuffed with straw and dry leaves. Above the brick are two rooms, in one are pieces of wood with holes, in the other are cones. In a small attic room there are twigs of different thicknesses with holes.

Location of the hotel for insects in the garden

As with hotels for people, so with hotels for insects, where they are located is important. The hotel must be placed in a sunny position, which provides enough heat and quick drying after the rain, and at the same time must be protected from excessive wind.

We found the ideal place on the stone part of the garden fence, which is stable enough for the weight of the hotel for insects, and at the same time offers protection from wind and weather.

Thus, our insect hotel in the garden of our boutique hotel Sunrose 7 is also friendly to (useful) insects, which, after only a few weeks since the “opening”, have already happily settled in their new friendly home.