I had been meaning to make a bug and bee hotel for quite some time, but with all the things going on in the house, it was not a priority. Then, one morning as I was sitting outside with a cup of tea, a beautiful carpenter bee landed on me. What a beautiful creature! And so, I promised myself I would build one within a few weeks.

It was actually quite easy to put it together. The hardest part for me, was to choose where to position it. I wanted it to catch the first rays of sunshine in the morning, but be in a secluded place not too close to the house. Eventually I settled for a spot in the chicken run, where it gets sunshine most of the day, but it also has some shade in the afternoon.

As it happens, at the time I was reading the bee book (The Bee Book | DK UK) as I was also about to embark in beekeeping. And there, I found the perfect example on how to build a bug and bee hotel.

First, I gathered all the materials that I could find around our house. Luckily, since the people that lived here before us had done some home renovations etc, I was able to find quite a few roof tiles and bricks. I had kept a couple of pallets from previous deliveries and then found some pinecones, straw and branches/logs around the field. So everything came free by just rummaging and scavenging the land around us.

So, here is a quick guide on how to make one yourself, and the best thing about it, is that you can make it as big or as small as you want / are able to fit in your chosen location. Anything will do to help the bugs.

Here is the list of some materials you can use:

• Wooden pallets (three or four or, like I did, I cut 2 in half)
• House bricks (the ones with holes in them)
• Broken pots/crockery
• Pinecones
• Straw or hay
• Bamboo canes cut into sections
• Roof tiles
• Logs/branches

Once you have gathered all the materials, you can start putting them together in the chosen location by stacking the pallets on top of each other and filling the gaps with what you have found. If you have logs, you need to drill a few holes and as for the bamboo off cuts, make sure the opening is deep enough as sometimes they are cut quite close to the nodes which would block the entrance.

As a last thing, ideally you need to place some tiles or turf on top or even cover it with some plastic sheet, to protect the structure and the bugs/bees.

If you don’t have much space or or you want something smaller to hang on a wall or to tuck away in a corner in your garden, you can still make something by using twigs you pruned off your trees, bamboo canes cut off etc, all bunched up together inside a pot or a wooden container. It will still be a fabulous addition to your garden and will help the bugs. There are numerous examples on the net, so have a look around. I still hope to have inspired you to do make your own, however small or big.

My bug and bee hotel has now been in place for a few months and I think it has been a success with the bugs and with my own chickens, who have started using it to lay their eggs too (as you can see below).