Bee House - Help a bee find a home

I have been told that Masonry Bees will live in one of these. Pairs of bees like to nest next door to each other, but each pair has its own separate home.

They lay eggs in the pieces of bamboo and leave lots of food with the eggs.

The baby bees hatch out and spend all summer eating the hidden food, safe in the little pipes. At the end of the year some of them turn into adults and some stay at an in between stage.

Both sorts hibernate and come out of their little wooden pipes to find a mate when the new spring comes.

To make a bee nest, cut up hollow bits of bamboo and stuff them into a clay pipe, flower pot or a wooden open fronted box. If you have a lot of gaps, you can fill them up with coloured drinking straws to help wedge the bamboo in place. The house in the picture needs a lot more bamboo in it really. I will put some more in before I put it out for the bees.

Wedge or hang your new house outside somewhere sheltered from bad weather and rain and high up enough to stop other animals playing with it. I am told if you make one now, in the next few weeks the bees will move in.