kirke park’s pollinator hotel

Kirke’s Pollinator Hotel

In an effort to help support native pollinators, we built a pollinator house for Kirke Park!

These basic principles guided our design:

• “first, do no harm” — use research-based, responsible design (see below)
• focus on solitary, gentle, non-stinging, cavity-nesting bees (vs. ground-nesting bees, butterflies, or ladybugs) and experiment with a variety of nest material (cardboard tubes, hollow stems, nest blocks)
• provide opportunities for observation and education

DESIGN

• house walls: extend at least 1” past any nesting materials, for protection from the elements and curious birds
• roof: solid, sloped to deflect rain, generous overhang in the front
• installation: mount securely / do not allow it to jiggle or move around (easier for landing bees and safer for bee eggs)
• house material: wood is best
  – untreated, no splinters (sharp edges can damage delicate wings);
  – fresh cedar is OK for structure, but not for nest blocks
• nesting materials:
  – paper-lined tubes, natural reeds, and reusable wood trays are best;
  – everything should be removable, openable, and cleanable;
  – bees don’t nest in pinecones, moss, bark, or pine needles
• tubes:
  – leafcutter & mason bees prefer diameters of 2-10mm (no bigger than a pencil);
  – length should be at least 6” long (length necessary to produce female bees) and capped in the back;
  – avoid moisture-trapping plastic, glass, metal, and impossible-to-clean bamboo
• protection: protect hatching bee cocoons and nesting tubes (cocoon drawer, hardware cloth)

SITE

• full sun, facing south or east (bees are cold-blooded and need the sun’s warmth)
• place house 3 to 5 feet off the ground, with tube openings unobscured by vegetation (located in a raised bed, ours might be a little too high…)

PROVIDE RESOURCES NEARBY

• water & mud for mason bees
• leaves for leafcutter bees
• flowers rich in nectar and pollen

BE ORGANIC

• do not harm your bees with pesticides, insecticides, fungicides, or herbicides

PLAN MAINTENANCE IN ADVANCE

Solitary bees usually nest apart from others. When we encourage bees to nest together, maintenance is required to reduce parasites and disease.

WATCH AND LEARN!

• observe the bees through the seasons to see how they fare and what nesting materials they like best
• make notes for next year’s improvements

• protection: place capped tubes in mesh bags to keep out predators (i.e. Houdini flies)
• cocoons care: remove and clean in fall / store and protect over winter / put out in spring
• sanitation: clean nest blocks and refresh paper liners every year; replace drilled blocks every 2 years

UPDATE

Want to see something cool?

This little buddy was late to emerge — she needed a little help. A very, very careful snip (or two) encouraged her to get the heck out of that cocoon. Hatching is hard work! You can get a good look at her mandibles working to free her from the cocoon’s grip, and watch her flex her wings and wiggle her legs, getting ready to fly off in search of flowers and live her life. Good job little bee!