19 May 2020
Home for Bees
Construction plan: A house for wild bees
Summer is soon and all around the Seefeld region, nature is blooming with fresh life. The air is filled with thousands of scents and a busy buzzing – it is peak season for bees and insects. Foraging for food and building nests dominate the daily tasks of these little helpers; in nice weather, they can be observed working in the lush alpine meadows around Seefeld. You can also learn a lot about native forest bees on the bee educational trail in Reith, and get inspired for your own garden at Austria's first bee hotel. Recently, I have also added a house for wild bees in my garden – built under the expert guidance of Ferdi's Beekeeping in Mösern. The construction plan is provided in this article.
Where the Wild Things Are
When talking about bees, one usually means the common honeybee. The Swedish naturalist Carl von Linné differentiated the "honey-producing bee" Apis Mellifera from other wild bees in 1758. The honeybee is indeed the only bee species that collects more honey than it needs itself. This extraordinary way of storing food made honeybees much more interesting for commercial beekeeping than their wild relatives. Today, we mainly know the delicious honey of these hardworking gatherers, while the countless wild bee species have somewhat fallen into oblivion. Furthermore, the wild bee truly lives up to its name: It lives wild and free, as a self-sufficient creature without its own hive, in burrows and reeds, behind wall cracks and between wood splits. Unless, of course, you build it a house.
Bees from beekeeper Kurt Kriegl in Reith
A guest house for nice neighbors
The installation of self-built nesting aids, bee houses, and bee hotels has nothing to do with beekeeping. Artificial habitats instead give these diligent creatures back some of the living space that humans have claimed for themselves in many places. Especially in densely populated areas, natural nesting places for wild bees are scarce. A bee house not only counters urban housing shortages and supports plant biodiversity (pollination), but it is also an excellent opportunity to observe these little benefactors up close! In contrast to aggressive wasps and hornets, (wild) bees are very sociable neighbors in the garden. For those with children, this helps to teach awareness, respect, and the proper way to handle the yellow-and-black striped helicopters. There are also some tips and tricks to consider when building a house, along with building instructions, more on that below.
Me and my wood: Instruction manual for a bee house
It is wonderful that one can use materials for a formidable bee house that can be found everywhere during a walk through the vast mountainous landscapes of the Seefeld region: Well-seasoned hardwood from deciduous trees (such as beech, ash, oak, fruit or nut trees) is the best choice, while coniferous wood is disliked by wild bees. If you prefer to skip the forest walk, you can kindly ask the nearest neighbor, carpenter, farmer, or bee expert for a suitable "scrap piece".
The good piece should definitely be thick enough, as a wild bee needs at least ten centimeters in depth for a spacious single apartment. Additionally, the holes (6-12mm in diameter) should always be drilled perpendicular to the growth direction, meaning from the outside through the growth rings to the inside. For particularly nice results, a drill press is recommended; drilling freehand requires a bit more finesse. Afterwards, the drilled holes are carefully smoothed with sandpaper, as wild bees need smooth walls. The smoother the hole wall, the better it protects the new nesting site against mites, mold, and moisture.
Long-term residence in the best location
Once the nesting holes are drilled and deburred, it’s time to decorate! There are hardly any limits here, only chemical colors and paints do not please the bees. Understandably, that's why only natural dyes are used, and colorful and felt-tip pens are also allowed. I simply dyed my bees’ residence a soft pink with a strong brew of beetroot – here you can also find other color recipes. With a Dremel (router) or screwdriver, you can also engrave intricate patterns into the surface – I created geometric "honeycomb flowers" with bold colored pencil accents.
Once the shell construction is finished, the ridge celebration follows, as even a do-it-yourself bee house needs a good roof. This should protect against rain but also not cast too much shadow over the nesting holes! If you are satisfied with the construction of the house, the next step is to find a suitable location: wind-protected, sunny, and dry is optimal, preferably also close to flowers. Once the new long-term home is securely and stably mounted, you basically just have to wait for the new neighbors to move in.
The finished project is now waiting for its first residents
Ferdinand Schot is 26 years young and a beekeeper with heart and soul. Together with his life partner Ramona and dog Audax, he tends to Ferdi’s Beekeeping in Mösern near Seefeld, where he looks after several thousand bees. Conventional beekeeping involves the harvesting of bee products such as honey, wax, and propolis, as well as breeding bees (queens) at the breeding station "Hohe Munde" and creating new bee colonies. The young beekeeper has turned his beloved hobby into a profession, thereby making an important contribution to the natural biodiversity in the Seefeld region. Ferdi regularly offers his homemade organic bee products at market days and at the Advent market in Seefeld. Alternatively, you can visit the online shop of the bee farm or the shop of the friendly bee king in the Inntalcenter Telfs.
By the way: If you take a walk along the Bee Learning Path in Reith, you will surely encounter many busy honey bees along the way and can admire Austria's first bee hotel there.
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