How to attract bees to a bee hotel

Eight things that work

1. Hang it before March. Mason bees choose tunnels within days of emerging.
2. Morning sun on the tunnel face. South or south-east, never north.
3. Fix it rigidly. A hotel swinging on wire reads as unsafe; screw it to a wall, fence post or shed at 1–1.5m.
4. Offer several tunnel widths. 2mm–10mm covers mason, leafcutter and the small species, so whoever is local finds a fit.
5. Provide mud. Red mason bees seal cells with wet clay-ish soil. A patch of bare damp earth, or a shallow tray of soil kept moist within 20m, makes a real difference.
6. Keep something in bloom from March to September. Pulmonaria, fruit blossom, hardy geranium, borage, comfrey, lavender, scabious and single-flowered dahlias cover the season.
7. Stop using insecticides. Sprays near the nesting front kill provisioning females and contaminate stored pollen.
8. Be patient and leave it alone. Do not open, clean or reposition it mid season. Occupancy usually climbs sharply in year two as the first generation emerges.

Three things that do not help

• Sugar water and "bee attractant" sprays. Nesting females are looking for tunnels, not syrup, and sticky residue attracts ants.
• Painting it bright colours. The solvent smell deters inspection; the colour is for you, not them.
• Buying more cheap hotels instead of one good one. Four damp, splintered boxes attract less than a single dry, smooth, well-sited one.

How to tell it is working

Watch on the first warm mornings: a female hovers, reverses into a tunnel, comes out, tries another. Days later she arrives carrying pollen visible on her abdomen. Then mud or chewed leaf caps appear across the entrances — that is a completed nest, several cells deep.

Start with a hotel worth siting well

The Wild Bee Hotel gives you the parts you cannot fix later: 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.