Do bee hotels work? Yes — and here is exactly when they don't

How a bee hotel works, mechanically

Cavity-nesting solitary bees do not dig their own tunnels; they look for existing ones. Dead standing wood, hollow stems and crumbling mortar supply them in the wild, and tidy gardens supply almost none. A hotel adds that missing resource in a place you choose. If suitable females are flying within a few hundred metres, and the tunnels suit them, they move in.

The six reasons a hotel stays empty

1. Wrong tunnel sizes. One drill width excludes every species it does not happen to fit. A 2mm–10mm spread covers mason, leafcutter and the small bees.
2. Damp. No roof overhang, or thin timber, and the pollen stores go mouldy. Females often reject visibly damp tunnels outright.
3. Rough interiors. Splintered drilling and sawn bamboo rims damage wings.
4. Wrong position. Shade, north-facing, too low, hidden behind foliage, or swinging on a string. Bees want morning sun and a rigid front.
5. Paint and preservative. Solvent smell deters inspection.
6. Impatience. Put out in June, the mason bee season has already passed; the real test is the following spring.

What success looks like, and when

Year one: some tunnels capped, often only the widths that match your local species. Year two and after: emergence from last year's cells plus new nesting, so occupancy climbs. A hotel that is 30–60% capped by its second autumn is doing well; every capped tunnel is several cells, so that is a substantial number of bees.

How to give yourself the best odds

• South or south-east facing, full morning sun, 1–1.5m up, screwed firmly in place.
• Flowers in bloom from March to September within easy flying distance.
• A patch of bare, damp soil for mason bees to collect mud.
• No insecticide use anywhere near the nesting front.
• Leave it up all winter; do not "tidy" capped tunnels away.

A hotel built around those failure modes

The Wild Bee Hotel exists because most shop-bought hotels trip over that list: it has hand-sanded tunnels from 2mm to 10mm, 19mm untreated Western red cedar, a hand-formed copper roof overhanging on all sides, a solid rear panel and a rigid steel mount. £39.99, free worldwide shipping, 30-day money-back guarantee.