What is a bee hotel?

The short answer

Around 90% of bee species are solitary. Each female works alone: she finds a ready-made tunnel, carries in pollen, lays an egg on it, seals that cell with mud or chewed leaf, and repeats until the tunnel is full. In the wild those tunnels are old beetle holes in dead wood, hollow plant stems and gaps in soft mortar — all of which modern gardens are short of. A bee hotel replaces them.

What lives in one

In Britain and much of Europe: red mason bees from March, leafcutter bees through summer, and smaller masked and yellow-faced bees if the tunnels go small enough. Harmless solitary wasps that hunt aphids and caterpillars often take a few tunnels too, which is good news for your vegetables.

What it is not

• Not a beehive — no honey, no colony, no inspections.
• Not a wasp trap or a bird box.
• Not a sting risk in any practical sense; solitary females are extremely reluctant.
• Not something you fill, feed or clean out weekly.

What makes one work

Dry tunnels (a roof that overhangs, thick timber), a spread of widths from about 2mm to 10mm, smooth interiors with no splinters, a solid back panel so parasitic wasps cannot reach the larvae, untreated wood with no paint smell, and a firm fixing in morning sun about 1–1.5m off the ground.

What you will see through the year

Spring: females hovering, reversing into tunnels, then arriving loaded with pollen. Summer: capped tunnel entrances — mud plugs or leaf plugs. Autumn and winter: nothing visible, but the brood is inside, so leave the hotel up. Next spring: the caps break open and the new generation emerges, usually to nest in the same hotel.

If you want one

The Wild Bee Hotel is built to exactly that specification: untreated Western red cedar, hand-formed copper roof, hand-sanded tunnels from 2mm to 10mm, solid rear panel and a steel mount. £39.99 with free worldwide shipping and a 30-day money-back guarantee.