What direction should a bee hotel face?

Why south or south-east

Solitary bees cannot fly until their flight muscles are warm. Early sun on the nesting face lets a female start foraging hours earlier than a shaded hotel allows, and over a short nesting season those hours decide how many cells she can provision. South-east is arguably better than due south in hot regions: warmth first thing, then relief from the fiercest afternoon heat, which can cook brood in a thin-walled box.

Directions to avoid

• North-facing: cold and shaded all day. The likeliest reason for an empty hotel that otherwise looks fine.
• Full west with no shelter: in Britain and Ireland that is the wet, windy side, and driven rain reaches the tunnels.
• Into deep shade under a tree or eaves overhang all day: shelter is good, permanent shade is not.

The rest of the siting checklist

• Height 1–1.5m — easy to watch, above splashing soil, away from most predators.
• Fixed rigidly to a wall, fence post or shed; nothing that swings in wind.
• Tilted a couple of degrees nose-down so any water runs out of the tunnels.
• Front clear of leaves and grass, with an unobstructed approach flight path.
• Flowers and, for mason bees, bare damp soil within easy reach.
• Out of the spray line of sprinklers, hoses and any insecticide use.

Can you move it?

Before nesting starts in spring, freely. Once tunnels are capped, leave it alone — if you absolutely must move it, keep the same orientation and height and shift it as short a distance as possible, ideally outside the flying season.

A hotel that makes the most of the sun

The Wild Bee Hotel's 19mm untreated cedar walls buffer the temperature swing between a cold night and a sunlit afternoon, and the hand-formed copper roof overhangs on all sides so a south-facing front stays dry in a shower. £39.99 with free worldwide shipping and a 30-day money-back guarantee.