Bee hotels are a type of

insect hotel An insect hotel, also known as a bug hotel or insect house, is a manmade structure created to provide shelter for insects. They can come in a variety of shapes and sizes depending on the specific purpose or specific insect it is catered to. Mo ...

for solitary pollinator

bees Bees are winged insects closely related to wasps and ants, known for their roles in pollination and, in the case of the best-known bee species, the western honey bee, for producing honey. Bees are a monophyletic lineage within the superfamil ...

. Bee hotels provide a space for shelter and rest for bees that are not part of a hive. A Canadian study of 200 bee hotels in Toronto indicated that 75% of hotels were dominated by wasps, and recommended that bee hotels be situated in locations that receive morning sunlight, and locations closer to the ground, in order to suits bee's preferences.

Background

Approximately 30% of the 5,000 native bee species in

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...

build nests in tunnels or cavities situated above ground.Building and managing bee hotels for wild bees
Julia Brokaw and Rufus Isaacs. Department of Entomology,

Michigan State University Michigan State University (Michigan State, MSU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in East Lansing, Michigan. It was founded in 1855 as the Agricultural College of the State of Michigan, the fi ...

, Extension Bulletin E-3337, June 2017 The 2021 scientific publication ''Worldwide occurrence records suggest a global decline in bee species richness'' indicates a downwards trend in the global bee population. In order to try and reverse the perceived reduction in bee numbers, some people construct bee hotels.

Construction and Care

Bee hotels are man made items that incorporate reeds, bamboo or other materials to create a bundle of horizontal tubes, open at one end, closed at the other. The horizontal tubes are five to eight inches in length, and 1/16 to 1/2 inches in diameter and are all open and closed at the same ends. The nested tubes require maintenance and cleanliness as bees in hotels are more susceptible to disease, such as the spread of chalkbrood, and predation from

parasitic wasps Parasitoid wasps are a large group of hymenopteran superfamilies, with all but the wood wasps (Orussoidea) being in the wasp-waisted Apocrita. As parasitoids, they lay their eggs on or in the bodies of other arthropods, sooner or later causin ...

and kleptoparasites than are bees in naturally built nests.

Use

In 2015,

Fairmont Hotels and Resorts Fairmont Hotels & Resorts is a global chain of luxury hotels that operates more than 70 properties worldwide, with a strong presence in Canada. The company originated from two hotel businesses established in the late 19th century, the Canadian Pa ...

added 16 more bee hotels at its locations, adding to the five it created in 2014.

Melittological studies

A study of 200 bee hotels undertaken by melittologist Laurence Packer and Scott MacIvor from

York University York University (french: Université York), also known as YorkU or simply YU, is a public university, public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is Canada's fourth-largest university, and it has approximately 55,700 students, 7,0 ...

indicated that 75% of bee hotels in their study were dominated by

wasps A wasp is any insect of the narrow-waisted suborder Apocrita of the order Hymenoptera which is neither a bee nor an ant; this excludes the broad-waisted sawflies (Symphyta), which look somewhat like wasps, but are in a separate suborder. T ...

. Bees, unlike wasps, favour hotels that receive direct (especially morning) sunlight, and that are closer to the ground. Bee hotels located on multi-storey building rooftops and in shaded areas are more likely to attract wasps. The study critiqued poorly designed and maintained bee hotels, noting that plastic tubes can be a catalyst for mould, narrower tubes can discourage female bees, and proximity of spiders can reduce bee populations. Peter Hallett, a melittologist from the

University of Toronto The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park. It was founded by royal charter in 1827 as King's College, the first institution ...

noted that the wasps observed in the study were not

yellowjackets A yellowjacket is a black-and-yellow vespid wasp. Yellowjacket(s) or Yellow Jacket(s) may also refer to: Places * Yellow Jacket, Colorado, an unincorporated town * Yellow Jacket, Florida, an unincorporated area in Dixie County, Florida Arts, e ...

, but solitary wasps that are generally perceived more positively in North America. Melittologist Cory Sheffield of the

Royal Saskatchewan Museum The Royal Saskatchewan Museum (RSM) is a Canadian natural history museum in Regina, Saskatchewan. Founded in 1906, it is the first museum in Saskatchewan, and the first provincial museum in the three Prairie Provinces. The institution was formed ...

observed more positive trends in bee hotels used by bees in orchards in

Nova Scotia Nova Scotia ( ; ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the four Atlantic provinces. Nova Scotia is Latin for "New Scotland". Most of the population are native Eng ...

and noted that some of the problems from the Toronto study were unique to cities. Both Cory Sheffield and Laurence Packer encouraged creation of bee hotels, despite the issues identified in the Toronto study.

References

{{Authority Control Insect conservation Nature conservation Nature conservation in Canada Beekeeping