Carpenter bee house diy

When it comes to Bee Houses I think most people think of a traditional bee hive with honey bees. However, many bees are not hive bees and prefer solitude. These solitary bees include bees such as Mason, and Leafcutter bees.

As I mentioned in my previous post about bees, I am upset about finding dead bees, Valley Carpenter Bees to be specific. It appears other folks might want them dead and gone or at least off of their property. I hope to offer them sanctuary and welcome them at Hanbury House. Valley Carpenter Bees are solitary, docile, hardworking, native bees, that spend many hours a day pollinating fruits and vegetables. Because I want to keep the bees around the garden, I decided the the best way to do it was for the kids and I spend an afternoon on a homemade DIY project of making carpenter bee houses out of leftover wood we had lying around. Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links. When you click on an affiliate link and make a purchase, I receive a small commission at no additional cost to you.

Carpenter bee house diy

For this project, you can pretty much use any chunk of wood you have lying around. Other than than that, you need a few flat boards, such as shingles, and some board to attach it to. I'm pretty sure the shingles don't actually make the bees want to move in any more than without them, but they make the finished project look kind of cute. I figure the best way to do this is to have your bee house attached to something solid such as a post or tree, although I have seen ones that are meant to hang from something, but that seems like it wouldn't be so good in the wind. You can choose either way, but I go with attaching them to something solid with a backboard. Since you can really get any deeper than what you drill bit can reach, that's about how long the logs should be. Just eyeballing the first one, it pretty much just needs to be cut in half, same as the one to the right, the block to the left being pretty good size already. Remember , safety first! Ear protection is a must when operating loud saws! Feel free to use eye protection as well. I went ahead and cut the split log on the slide saw that I usually use, but the round log was too large a diameter, so I used my chop saw on it.

Since this is supposed to resemble a small house, the shingles will be used for the 'roof'. These cookies ensure basic functionalities and security features of the website, anonymously.

You can attract these super-pollinators by building an easy-peasy DIY bee house. Not to mention their behavior patterns. Most solitary bees are quite docile unless disturbed, and many cannot even sting. So, if all you need is some extra bees, or you want to help promote the pollination patterns in your areas, solitary bees are the way to go. These hiveless bees often occupy the same living spaces. The difference between solitary bees and social bees is the brooding process.

Lee has over two decades of hands-on experience remodeling, fixing, and improving homes, and has been providing home improvement advice for over 13 years. Amanda Rose Newton is a pest specialist and horticulture expert, reviewing pest control and gardening content for The Spruce's Cleaning and Gardening Review Board. Her passion for pest control and sustainable gardening allows her to review plant and pest content for best practices and accuracy. She is a professor of Horticulture, an Education Specialist, and a pest specialist. Do-it-yourself beekeeping has gained in popularity as people realize the benefits of bees to our environment.

Carpenter bee house diy

The Walled Nursery Amazon Associate, we earn from qualifying purchases. We get commissions for purchases made through links in this post at no extra cost to you. Thank You for your support. Carpenter bees are unwanted pests for many homeowners. They are often destructive, causing lots of damage to houses and many headaches for those who live there. So, what can you do about carpenter bees?

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Performance cookies are used to understand and analyze the key performance indexes of the website which helps in delivering a better user experience for the visitors. Thanks, Lianne Loading The layers of earth and wildflowers will attract Mining bees to your garden. Female Carpenter bees can sting if they feel threatened, but males do not have stingers at all. This is an optional step, but sealing it will help the house hold up longer. I chose to make my house with four boards across, but you can easily add or subtract more boards to meet your needs. I am basing this on where I have seen multiple nest holes in a single area. This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. The patio table is not a good spot for them. Learn how your comment data is processed. No dead ones about. I hope you're looking forward to having new neighbors! We have a lot out under the eaves beside our garage but a woodpecker found them recently and I can see that some of them are looking for a home.

As I mentioned in my previous post about bees, I am upset about finding dead bees, Valley Carpenter Bees to be specific. It appears other folks might want them dead and gone or at least off of their property.

Some sizes are used al lot, others are not. This article does not have the information I am looking for. Those look like such a good project for a group of kids. I encourage like-minded ecologists to not promote this non-native species which is also known to be highly toxic to birds. Solitary bees are just as important as honeybees. These cookies ensure basic functionalities and security features of the website, anonymously. Their pollination efforts are beneficial to farmers, homesteaders, and anyone hoping to help the environment. So exciting! These cookies track visitors across websites and collect information to provide customized ads. I figure the best way to do this is to have your bee house attached to something solid such as a post or tree, although I have seen ones that are meant to hang from something, but that seems like it wouldn't be so good in the wind. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. The spacing is important, so I kept them far enough apart, but the overall layout doesn't really matter to the bees nor to me. This site uses Akismet to reduce spam.