Hotel for Native kidsconnectingnature.com.au

NOTES Not to scale

BASE Dimensions based on timber 12mm thick x 140mm SIDE SIDE ROOF wide. Adjust dimensions to suit - use untreated

BACK

140 recycled hardwood if possible! You may find 108 bamboo growing near you – ask around – or YOU WILL NEED purchase from a hardware or garden centre mm 120 120 160 70 70

B & B Instructions! www.kidsconnec:ngnature.com.au% ASSEMBLY INSTRUCTIONS B & B Instructions! Step%3%www.kidsconnec:ngnature.com.au% Step%1% Step%2% Step%3% Hole for Pre drill holes in sides & Step%1% Step%2% hanging roof to accommodate nail. Use Holefurthest for back as hangingfrom Cut bamboo into Usesupport furthestbottom ! SIDES: 3 holes back aswhile from 11cm lengths with 6mm from edge supportyou nail! bottom! a mix of while i.e. half the entrances from Nail%Side%1%to%Bo0om%you nail! Nail%Side%1%to%Back% Nail%Side%2%on%to%Back%&%Bo0om% timber width 2mm-9mm Nail%Side%1%to%Bo0om% Nail%Side%1%to%Back% Nail%Side%2%on%to%Back%&%Bo0om% ROOF: 4 Step%4% Step%5% holes 30mm Place Step%4% roof Step%5%Stack% from each Placeflush with bamboo% edge roof Line ! back % Stack% flush up of% You can also add with bamboo% BACK: A larger Lineholes ! various% back % with of% hardwood timber hole for hanging up sizes% Overhang at holesmiddle various% rounds or offcuts the hotel front! withof sides! with 2-9mm holes Overhang at middle sizes% Place%Roof%on%&%check%posi:on%before%nailing%to%top%front! of sides! EASY%BEESY!% drilled Place%Roof%on%&%check%posi:on%before%nailing%to%top% EASY%BEESY!%

BEE IN THE KNOW KNOW YOUR GUESTS

• Decorate & seal the box with non-toxic paint in ‘floral’ There are about 2000 native species in Australia. Several PAINT colours. species will use an insect hotel to create their nests. Most bees are • Secure your hotel 1-2m above ground where it solitary with each female independently creating her own. PLACE receives morning sun, afternoon shade & minimal The female flies backwards and forwards over the warmer month weather exposure. collecting enough food - pollen and nectar - for one larva, before • Feed your bees! Place the hotel near flowers of she lays an egg on top. Some species create a divide between PLANT different colours & shapes – exotics & local natives – each egg. When the nest is finished the mother seals it. The nest something in flower all the time! closure is different depending on the species. • The closer your hotel is to flowers, the less flight time Once the young have finished the food, they metamorphose into an required by the female to collect pollen & nectar for adult bee and emerge. As the weather cools off, all adult bees die. the brood, & the more eggs can be laid! More bees! Late season young remain in the nest over winter and emerge the • Leave some bare earth & dead wood for blue-banded following spring – beginning the whole cycle again! bees, carpenter bees and other species. • Chemicals and pesticides can kill bees – BEE

CARE friendly!

• Do not stand in the flight path of your bee guests – observe from the side.

• Most solitary bees have an annual cycle – it may take several cycles for them to find your hotel. Other

may like it too – it’s good habitat! Erica Siegel, Katja Hogendoorn • Many solitary bee species can sting you, however WATCH they are not aggressive and it is very rare for them to Resin bees Masked bees Leafcutter bees do so. (Megachile spp.) carry (Hyaleus spp.) appear (Megachile spp.) use pollen on their similar to a small soft such as • Monitor & report insect activity to build our knowledge abdomen. They use and are leaves to build with the aid of citizen science. resin to create and relatively hairless with individual cells for • Once the young emerge they will not reuse the same seal their nest, yellow markings. their young. Check your garden for the REPEAT cavity, so replace the content with bamboo, curled sometimes even Their cellophane-like adding small stone closure looks a bit like tell tail semi circle bark, pithy stems or drilled rounds for new uptake. particles. spiders web cuts! • Different species seek different size holes – provide a range of 2-9 mm holes. Make another hotel – salvaged untreated recycled • Book a school incursion or workshop: hardwood is ideal. kidsconnectingnature.com.au