Insects and minibeasts are small, but they play a huge part in the natural world, doing useful things like pollinating plants.
We’d like to encourage them by giving them a special place to live in the nature garden. And that’s where you can help – by building the rooms to go in the bug hotel frame that Rob T has made.
We’d expect creatures like lacewings, ladybirds, woodlice and hibernating solitary bees and wasps to take up residence. Possibly even frogs and toads!
How to make a room for the hotel
- Build a box the right size – see the diagram which shows the dimensions of each compartment.
Use lightweight wood so the hotel doesn’t get too heavy. (Ask an adult to email support@nature-garden.co.uk to tell us which box you’re making so there aren’t too
many of the same size!) - Put some holes in the sides of your box. They can be different sizes, so small and big insects can crawl in and out.
- Bugs like to be snug, of course, and they often nest in crannies and crevices in buildings, or in tree trunks. Fill your box with suitable materials to make the bugs feel at home. Here are some ideas of what you could use:
- Straw
- Moss
- Dry leaves
- Woodchips
- Old terracotta pots
- Old roofing tiles
- Bricks with holes through them
- Bark
- Pine cones
- Sand
- Soil
- Hollow bamboo canes
- Dead hollow stems cut from shrubs and herbaceous plants
4. Bring your finished bug room to the next nature garden volunteering event on 27 and 28 November. You’ll be able to add your room to the hotel in time for winter visitors.