Raise local biodiversity – make an insect hotel

Ever thought to build a home for insects and spiders? Make an insect hotel. Why not?

Sharing urban areas with our six-legged friends is something we often take for granted. Assuming they are ever present, we forget how fragile they are, prone to dying off. This especially since human activities like deforestation and entire environment pollution are shrinking their habitats and diminishing their population on an almost yearly basis.

Insect hotel made of solid material and sheltered

The two-legged helping six-legged ones

If you listen carefully the street noise, you’ll notice that insect buzzing and birds chirping is somewhat silenced lately. No food, no chirping. Or buzzing. Not so many different flowering plants as well. Hence, no more bees, butterflies, bumblebees, lacewings, and hoverflies. Even nasty-looking earwigs. Or lady beetles.

What’s the catch? The answer is simple: meadows, forests, natural grasslands are shrunk, and so is the area and the number of local plants species that insects used to feed on. So, there’s a smaller number of birds, lizards, hedgehogs, frogs, because they also lack habitats, but their insect food as well. If you grow only beautiful, but foreign plants in your garden, keep on using mineral fertilizers, pesticides and throw out every leaf that falls on the ground (and most of us do), you will scatter away all natural garden inhabitants. Eco balance is gone.

Act locally, think globally

It is true that micro managing, in this case, could help. Until our governments and local municipalities repair their policy making on the matter, individually, we can make a change.

So, besides raising awareness of eco damage we constantly create, there has to be something we can do to help insects survive in cities. Actually, we can give them home, shelter or a hotel. While doing it, we can raise the eco awareness amongst children, and leave some proper ideas for next generations to think of. How about that?

Start by teaching kids, like we did.

Inspired by preserving insect fauna, we decided to make a workshop for kids, creating a bug hotel, insect shelter, or however would be suitable to name the objects we made. And flash news: They loved it!

Build an insect hotel

It is easier than it seems. You can collect any natural material you can (still) gather in the cities: reed or bamboo cuttings saw dust, leaves, twigs, drilled chunks of wood, bark, hay. As a frame (not to say house walls) for the future hotel, the easiest solution is a plastic bottle, old clay pot, pallet, even wooden or a shoe box. Not to mention toilet paper card board.

Workshop for kids: How to make an insect hotel?

This way, youngsters will learn to recycle, gather, modify and pair things in a whole new way.

They should know that bees and wasps prefer smoothly drilled holes in wood chunks, crawling insects and spiders will couch surf on bark and leaves at the bottom of the construction, while butterflies, lacewings, lady beetles and earwigs will manage with twigs, straws, and reed. All of them will find their way, trust us, just give them a chance. Place the hotel in a sheltered place, preferably sun directed (south or north, depending on hemisphere you live in) and with a bit of moist. Wooden box, pallet or shelves could be the best solution, since they are solid built constructions. But, in our case, we used bottles and shoe boxes, which will have to be additionally protected, so they wouldn’t break apart too soon.

Not the prettiest example of an insect hotel, yet made with lots of effort – by kids

Good practice says that you can place your insect hotel even near people since insects are not so easily scared off, as other garden dwellers are. If you have means, add some soil on top of your insect hotel and plant moss, sedums, and other plants, for a more natural look (and functionality).

A bug shelter is a home for everybody

It is good to underline (so kids wouldn’t disappoint) that beside beneficial insects and spiders, many unwanted guests will arrive. Nature will go.. well, naturally. Also, once established bug shelter, will provide a higher number of birds and other insect praying guys. As the enhancement to your new eco-friendly garden, you should grow some native plant species nearby, preferably grasses and flowering ones. Pests in a garden (aphids, mites) should be scaled down too since you will get a ladybug, lacewing, and earwig back up. Amongst others.

Insect hotel works 24/7 all year round

There are no strict rules regarding material you can use, nor the shape of the insect hotel. Just stick to several laws of nature (insect biology and ecology), everything else is up to them.

Once the bug shelter is made, you will provide an overwintering place and a nesting spot during summer. Just lay back, and you’ll see customers coming and going all year round…