Gardeners know that bees help the garden. Some gardeners try to get some bees to come to the yard with honey. If you're not quite ready for full-on beekeeping, you can still get in on the act by building a mason bee house and attracting solitary bees. These species aren't cultivated for their honey production and can still be productive pollinators. The materials for this project are dependent on the type of bee house you plan to make, but you will need at least one block of wood or board. You will need a chop saw, a nail gun and nails, a hammer, a drill, and a tape measure. Building a home for mason bees can be very simple. They only need to drill a few tunnels through a block of wood and a roof to keep the entrance dry. Some instructions use paper liners for the tubes to keep the inside of the nest clean, but these are not mandatory. Bee hotels that open up so that they can be cleaned between seasons are more convenient, but they are slightly more complicated to build. You will need to create an overhanging roof for your bee house. To make a peaked roof, cut two pieces of one-by-six or a similar material with a 30-degree angle on one edge. Make sure the roof is wide enough for the entrances to your house. You need to nail the two pieces together to form the peak.
What you need to make a mason bee house
How to build a mason bee house roof and structure
If you have a roof, you can build a square box to hold your bees. The box should be large enough to fit your nest, so deep and wide that your roof can accommodate it. You can use some boards that are about the same size as the one you are using to build a rectangular shape that is about 8 inches across the top and bottom and 5 inches deep. Next, cover the back side of the box with a 1-by-3 and place your roof over the opening. It's time to nail it on. Bee nest tubes will go into this structure.
To make the simplest nest tubes, you can drill holes in blocks of 2-by-4 with a 7/16-inch drill bit. Cut your blocks to 5 inches. Use an extra long bit to drill holes from the end of the block. The bee nest tubes can be cleaned with pipe cleaners or water if the holes go through. If you use this method, you can place your blocks with the holes facing out, and your bee hotel is ready to install.
To make tubes that are simpler to clean, you'll need a routers and a bit. If you're using boards for nesting, you'll want to use your routers to get the channels into them. The boards should be cut to fit inside the bee box. The front of your bee box needs to be cut an inch from the back. They will form bee tunnels when they are put into the box one on top of the other. You can open up the tunnels when you clean your bee box because you can slide them out.
The bee hotel should be ready to install if you choose to use a nest tunnel. When the weather is warm enough for bees in your area, place your bee hotel outside to attract some pollinating friends. If the weather is cold enough for bees, you should move the bee house to a garden shed, garage, or similar protected space. Once the bees are ready to hatch, place the bee hotel back outside and allow the bees to emerge from their cocoons. You should clean the bee tunnels and dry them to prevent the growth of fungus. New bees should not be in the cleaned tubes.
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