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Project library · With kids · All Ages mode

Make a bug hotel with kids

A rainy Saturday, a wet corner of the garden, and small hands that want a real job with a result at the end.

A bug hotel is one of the few builds where the gathering is most of the work, so the children do the majority of it.

Before you start

Adult-only steps are marked in every route: sawing, drilling and anything above knee height. No treated, painted or creosoted wood anywhere in the stack — it will kill what moves in.

Three ways to do it

Zero Cost

A stack of what is already lying about. Ages 3 and up, with an adult.

$0 · 1 hour

You have it

  • Gardening gloves
  • A bucket for the gathering

You need it

  • Nothing — bricks, pallet offcuts, hollow stems, pine cones, dead leaves, bark
  1. 1

    Send the children to gather: hollow dry stems, pine cones, bark, dead leaves, small stones. This is the part they remember.

  2. 2

    Pick a flat, sheltered spot in part shade, up against a wall or fence.

  3. 3

    Lay 2 bricks flat, about 400 mm apart. Rest a plank or pallet offcut across them. That is layer 1.

  4. 4

    The children pack the gap: stems at the back, cones in the middle, leaves at the front.

  5. 5

    Repeat for 3 or 4 layers, packing each before the next goes on. Nothing needs fixing — weight holds it.

  6. 6

    Lay a board, an old tile or a piece of bark on top as a roof so the middle stays dry.

Minimal Effort

An old crate or drawer becomes the frame. Nothing is built. Ages 4 and up.

$0 to $15 · 40 minutes

You have it

  • String or garden twine
  • Scissors for the adult

You need it

  • A wooden crate, drawer or open box
  • Bundles of hollow stems if the garden has none
  1. 1

    Stand the crate on its side so the opening faces out, sheltered from the wettest wind.

  2. 2

    Children tie stems into fist-sized bundles with twine. Adult cuts the twine and trims the stems.

  3. 3

    Pack the bundles in tight, ends facing out. Loose bundles roll out in the first storm.

  4. 4

    Fill the gaps with cones and bark so nothing rattles.

  5. 5

    Weigh a tile or slate on top as a roof. Check it after the first rain and add more packing if it has settled.

Polished Finish

A framed box with a sloped roof and trays that come out for cleaning. Adult builds, children fill. Ages 6 and up.

About $40 · A weekend

You have it

  • Saw
  • Drill
  • Tape measure
  • Screwdriver

You need it

  • Untreated timber, 20 by 150 mm, about 3 metres
  • Untreated hardwood offcut for the bee block
  • Drill bits from 2 to 10 mm
  • 50 mm screws
  • Roofing felt or a slate offcut
  • Chicken wire and staples
  1. 1

    Adult only: cut the sides, base and 2 shelves. A box 400 mm wide by 500 mm tall by 150 mm deep suits a wall.

  2. 2

    Screw the box together and fit the shelves. Slope the top by 20 mm so water runs off the front.

  3. 3

    Adult only: drill the bee block. Holes 2 to 10 mm, 100 mm deep, not through, spaced 20 mm apart.

  4. 4

    Sand every hole mouth smooth. Rough entrances tear bee wings and the block stays empty.

  5. 5

    Children fill the shelves: stem bundles, cones, bark, drilled block on the sunniest shelf.

  6. 6

    Staple chicken wire across the front so birds cannot pull the filling out.

  7. 7

    Adult only: fix it to a wall facing south or south-east, about 1 metre up, clear of the ground.

  8. 8

    Every autumn, pull the trays and replace the packing. A hotel nobody cleans becomes a disease trap.

The step that bites

Drilling and finishing the bee block

Two mistakes empty a bee block. Drilling straight through leaves a draughty tunnel no solitary bee will use — stop at 100 mm. And a rough, splintered hole mouth shreds wings, so the bees look and leave. Run sandpaper or a countersink over every entrance until it is smooth to a fingertip.

Further reading

Other people have filmed and written this job well. Their work, their names, their links.

Your job is not this job

Your room, your pile of offcuts, your budget, whoever is holding the other end. Describe it in your own words and we write the plan for that, three ways.

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