How to Operate a Successful Bee Hotel
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How to Operate a Successful Bee Hotel Making space for wood and stem nesting bees in home landscapes, parks, and gardens Draft Elsa Youngsteadt Assistant Professor & Extension Urban Ecology Specialist Department of Applied Ecology North Carolina State University Meredith Favre Graduate Student—MS Department of Entomology and Plant Pathology North Carolina State University DRAFT VERSION in progress and not yet peer-reviewed, Feb 27, 2021 TABLE OF CONTENTS What is a bee hotel? .................................................................................................................................. 1 The benefits of bees ............................................................................................................................. 1 Who lives in a bee hotel? ...................................................................................................................... 2 How bees and wasps use a hotel .......................................................................................................... 3 Meet the residents ............................................................................................................................... 5 Family Megachilidae ........................................................................................................................ 2 Blue orchard bee ........................................................................................................................ 5 Other mason bees ...................................................................................................................... 6 Alfalfa leafcutting bee ................................................................................................................ 7 Other leafcutting bees ................................................................................................................ 8 Wool-carder bees ..................................................................................................................... 10 Hoplitis and Heriades ................................................................................................................ 12 Chelostoma philadelphi ............................................................................................................ 13 Family Colletidae ........................................................................................................................... 14 Yellow-faced bees ..................................................................................................................... 14 Family Apidae ................................................................................................................................ 15 Small carpenter bees ................................................................................................................ 15 Solitary wasps ................................................................................................................................ 15 Potter and mason wasps .......................................................................................................... 16 Thread-waisted wasps .............................................................................................................. 18 Square-headed wasps .............................................................................................................. 19 Bee hotel design and placement ............................................................................................................. 21 Nest tunnel materials ......................................................................................................................... 21 Tunnel size .......................................................................................................................................... 24 Shelter and protection ........................................................................................................................ 26 Shade and orientation ........................................................................................................................ 27 Navigation aids ................................................................................................................................... 29 Other landscape features ................................................................................................................... 32 Overwintering and cleaning ................................................................................................................Draft 33 What if bee hotels aren’t really good for bees? ................................................................................. 35 Appendix 1 Bee hotel checklist ................................................................................................................ 37 Appendix 2 Plants that produce twigs and stems used by nesting bees in eastern North America ....... 38 Appendix 3 Plants whose leaves and fibers are used as construction materials in the nest interior ..... 39 Appendix 4 Plans for a simple bee hotel shelter ..................................................................................... 40 Appendix 5 Additional resources ............................................................................................................. 47 References ............................................................................................................................................... 48 WHAT IS A BEE HOTEL? Bee hotels are the insect equivalent of a birdhouse. Also known as bee condos, bee houses, or nest blocks, these structures provide nesting space for certain solitary bees and wasps. These species would ordinarily nest in hollow plant stems, holes in dead wood, or other natural nooks and crannies. A bee hotel simulates this nesting habitat by providing a bundle of hollow reeds or stems, or holes drilled in a wooden block. These nesting tunnels can be sheltered from weather and predators using a variety of shelters (Fig. 1). Fig. 1. Bee hotels can take a variety of shapes and sizes. They may include drilled blocks (a); a combination of drilled blocks and hollow (b, d); observation nests with viewing windows (c, g); or bundles of stems and reeds (e, f). Photos: A) Jonathan Giacomini, B) Adam Dale, C & G) George Pilkington/Nurturing Nature, D-E) E. Youngsteadt, F) Jo Zimny Managing a bee hotel can be simple and rewarding, but it does require some planning, maintenance, and commitment. This document will guide you through the process of choosing a hotel design and location, identifying its occupants, andDraft maintaining a safe environment for them. We will emphasize practices relevant to small-scale bee hotels used to enhance pollination of home gardens, to provide habitat, or for observation. Large-scale production of bees for commercial pollination is not covered. The benefits of bees While we would likely not starve without the pollination services of bees, we would certainly not enjoy the variety of food and the amount of nutrition that we do today. Staple crops such as wheat, corn, and rice are wind-pollinated and thus do not rely on insect pollinators to reproduce. However, bees and other animal pollinators are essential for many fruits, nuts, and berries, which are packed with nutrition and provide the majority of vitamins A and C in our diet1-2. Approximately 87% of flowering plants and 75% of crops benefit from an animal pollinator for production of seeds or fruit3-4. Bees as a group are estimated to be directly responsible for 3-8% of our total food supply5-6. However, these estimates do not include indirect effects of bee pollination, such as enhancing alfalfa yield which is essential forage 1 for livestock such as cows, which are raised to produce milk or meat. Overall, our food supply would be smaller, less colorful, and less nutritious without bees. Pollination by honey bees vs native bees While honey bees are the main pollinators in commercial agriculture, native bees and other animal pollinators also provide important pollination services and enhance pollination even while honey bees are present. Depending on the scale of the agriculture, native bees can be sufficient for pollination needs and can be more efficient at pollinating specific crops than honey bees7,8. For example, 250-300 blue orchard bees (Osmia lignaria) can pollinate the same acreage suggested for 1 to 2.5 strong honey bee hives, which on average contain about 30,000 bees per hive9. Native bees vary in dietary habits, and this variety can make them effective as a group for pollinating a diversity of plants. Some native bees are dietary generalists, like bumble bees, which are active throughout much of the year and utilize various plants throughout the seasons. In contrast, some bees are dietary specialists and collect pollen only from select plants, sometimes only visiting species from a specific plant family. The squash bee, Eucera (Peponapis) pruinosa, is a dietary specialist and solely collects pollen and nectar from plants in the genus Cucurbita, such as squash and pumpkins. The diversity of plants which native bees visit, and their efficient means of pollination, makes them collectively at least as important as any one generalist species, like honey bees. How bee hotels can support native bees Bee hotels support populations of solitary bees and wasp species where nesting habitat is limited. Native bee populations depend on the availability of appropriate nesting sites, materials for nest