Make a bee home
Bees are vital to ensure the success of plants that are food and shelter for so many other species.
Which box for which bee?
Bumblebee boxes are about the size of small bird boxes but have two compartments: one in which the queen breeds which is filled with wood shavings, and one where the other bees live.
Red mason bees are particularly good for pollinating fruit trees. They lay their eggs in tubes, one at a time, with a supply of pollen or nectar and a plug of mud between them. You can buy artificial boxes or make your own from hollow pipes or bamboo.
Rock and log piles make great invertebrate homes and are quick and easy to create. See How to make a wood pile.
Garden sheds and outhouses are sometimes used by hibernating insects as they are warm and sheltered.
Bumblebees may nest in tussocks of grass or moss, so may use a grassy bank at the edge of your garden. Plant clover and catmint to encourage them into your garden. Bumblebees also nest in old rodent burrows.
Mason bees often nest in holes in old wood or thick stems, such as those of the hogweed or bramble.
Choose a sheltered, south-facing spot to site bumblebee boxes. It should be warm but out of direct sunlight.
Place bumblebee boxes near a fence, under a hedge or in a flower bed — almost anywhere bumblebees might forage for food. Mice sometimes nest in bumblebee boxes. This can be good for bees the following year, as they may use any nesting material left behind.
Attach a mason bee box to a tree or post as this species tends to nest higher off the ground than bumblebees. The box can be put in direct sunlight. Point the entrance down slightly so that the bees don't get wet.
Why encourage bees?
Bees are great pollinators of all sorts of plants, flowers and trees. What's more, they function better when it's cold than many other insects.
The British bumblebee population has fallen drastically in recent decades and your boxes could help reverse this decline.
