DIY Bug Hotel

Give those good bugs a place to call home in your garden. Bug hotels are a wonderful way to attract good insects and pollinators to your garden which will in turn, help your garden flourish.

What you need:

• 32mm pine cut to the following dimensions:
  • 2 x 300mm x 75mm x 13mm (box sides)
  • 2 x 270mm x 75mm x 13mm (box top and bottom)
  • 1 x 380mm x 75mm x 13mm (crosspiece)
  • 1 x 195mm x 75mm x 13mm (division)
  • 1 x 300mm x 300mm x 5mm plywood (back)
• 8 x 38mm panel pins
• 8 x 20mm panel pins
• A selection of materials to fill the three compartments (wood, bark, pinecones – be creative)

Tools: Saw, mitre box or mitre saw, pencil, tape measure, hammer, combination square.

What you do:

1. Cut the ends of the 380mm crosspiece at 45°, angling in to each other. Use a combination square and a handsaw or mitre saw to do this. Also cut one end of the division at 45°.

2. Make a box of 300mm x 300mm by nailing the box sides to the box top and bottom, using the 38mm panel pins.

3. Nail the plywood back to the box using 20mm panel pins.

4. Slide the 380mm crosspiece into position, diagonally bisecting the box.

5. Slide the division into place, the 45° end wedged in the corner and the 90° end against the crosspiece.

6. Fill the three triangle compartments with sticks, bark, pinecones, pieces of wood with holes drilled in it, or anything else that might make a snuggly home for some critters. Bear in mind that many bees live in holes in wood, so drill holes of different sizes in the wood.

7. Hang the bug hotel in a sheltered position, and inspect every few days to see who moves in.