How make mason bees observation house
Bug hotel for solitary bees
Shortly after I built the first insect hotel, the solitary bees moved in. They picked up the eggs and closed the holes so they did not know what was going on inside. After my ancestral experience, I decided to create a glazed insect hotel that could be used to watch insect life.
We prepare two wooden boards of approximately 20x40x2 cm. I found only a piece of blasted wood that was too rough and so I cut it lengthways on two thinner boards.
The boards will be shortened by 5 cm. We will postpone these cuttings because we will eventually use them to make a roof.
On one board we will indicate the final dimensions of the house, the slope of the roof, the layout and the length of the corridors.
We create the corridors most easily using a die cutter. Since I did not have a milling cutter, I used a stand drill and a broken hammer drill. I moved the wood without the preparation just by hand. This gave the corridors wavy natural appearance. Their size is approximately 8x8 mm.
After smoothing the wood, smooth the sandpaper smoothly.
We measure and cut off plexiglass. I have used plexiglass for 10 years, thinking it will be well-ventilated and will not smoke bees from plastic. Next, I have painted the side edges of Plexiglas in black, so that the corridors are darkened against the light from the side. Later I realized that I could use the brown color. She would stick more to the wood.
Pull out holes for screws into plexiglass.
Depending on the size of the plexiglass, we will cut the second plate, which will become the door. The cuts that we put down on the roof are shortened as needed to extend over the house but also to open the door.
Hanging the house must be done in such a way that it does not bend in the wind nor when opening the door. At the same time, the house must be easily dismantled and transferred to a protected site for the winter. I have solved this by using two apertures in the shape of an inverted keyhole.
Finally, cut the wood smoothly and prime the door with hinges. I'm still a roof and the outer surfaces are linseed with linseed oil to make wood more resistant to moisture.
I fixed the locking of the door by tapping the wire so that the hook rotates around the screw and fits into another wire ring.
Povrch domčeku môžeme ozdobiť vyrezávaním, maľovaním alebo vypaľovaním. Ja som použil gravírovanie laserom. Obrázok včely pôsobí dekoratívne a zároveň má slúžiť ako varovanie, že kto to vlastne v tom domčeku býva.
Well, and finally, by combining almost waste materials, this beautiful little bee-house for the bees of the solitary girl will be created.
When the door is opened, what's inside is visible. The door is a text about beehives, as the house is located in a community garden where many people are moving.
The apiary should be placed as far as possible in such a way as to protect it from direct sunlight, wind and rain.
Pictures from mason bee life
Unlike honey bees, the beekeepers' bees do not form communities, but live in a lonely way. The female of the lonely bee builds a separate nest in the wood cavity. He creates a small chamber into which he applies pollen and carries one egg. The chamber is then closed, for example, with clay. Accordingly, they were given the folk name - bees bricklayers. The larva is hatched from the egg, which feeds on the prepared mixture of pollen and nectar. After eating all the food, the larva is cocooned and this is the winter. A new bee hatches out of the hood in spring.
House I made in the second half of summer, so probably not fully occupied.
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