Ever heard of a bee hotel? I hadn’t either. Don’t bees live in colonies, with a queen, and they dance around and tell each other where to find the good nectar?
Turns out that meany bees actually don’t live in hives, instead creating their own (solitary) nests. Females oviposit a single egg in each compartment, and then plug it up so that the baby can gestate peacefully. Bees and other insects also use the compartments to hibernate, or just take shelter.
In the wild, bees create their own nests just beautifully, but in urban areas, there is much less viable nest real estate. Bee hotels are a good way to create more friendly nesting places for them. If you happen to be lucky enough to have a garden or green space near your house, the addition of more bees will help your plants get pollinated.
Some bee hotels out there are very fancy-looking. This is nice from a human perspective, but if you’re thinking about making your own, keep in mind that the bees don’t care how pretty it looks on the outside. In other words, if you want to make a bee hotel, don’t let your lofty DIY aspirations get in the way of just putting something simple together that the bees will actually use.
Doesn’t this make you want to go make your own bee hotel? More on that in another post!
Via The Ark In Space