DIY Bug Hotel

Plastic What You Preach
by Plastic What You Preach
5 Materials
$5
30 Minutes
Easy

We all know nature needs a little help these days. This is a great, attractive looking way to help insects in your garden. It's a great project for children too! There are so many different ways you can choose to do this project it really isn't off limits to anyone. My projects at the moment are very much using what I have due to the restrictions on going out to get new things etc. Have a look around your house and I can almost guarantee you'll find something suitable for this one.

What you need


Here is everything you'll need for this project. As I said in the intro, you can make so many swaps for this project so don't feel you can't do it if you don't have a bird house lying around! This bird house I've had for a couple of years. I used to use it as a reward "fairy house" for my daughter. We don't use it anymore so I took a side off it to make the frame for the bug hotel. You could use any number of things instead, such as an empty ice cream tub, unused (or lid-less) Tupperware container, etc. As well as your frame, you'll need contents. All things natural (and free for the most part!). Small lengths of bamboo cane, twigs of all shapes and sizes, stones, corrugated cardboard, empty toilet roll tubes filled with hay/straw....whatever you fancy really. Think nooks and crannies. Bugs need to hide. Dried leaves would work well, shredded paper. Be imaginative:-)

Filling it up


The rest is just filling it up really. You can choose to have sections like I have or just have the frame as it is and put different things in as you go along. This section is bamboo cane and then straw filled toilet roll tubes, and some extra straw to fill up the gap.

Filling it up


For my next section I chose to just use twigs. The skinnier the better, with some slightly chunkier ones mixed in. Just snap them to suit the size of whatever frame you're using.

Filling it up


My final section contains layers of corrugated cardboard and some stones and thicker twigs on the top. As I've said, you can make changes to this. It's totally up to you how to design it. If you're worried that things might fall out due to wind etc, you could glue or tack some mesh over the front (a mesh bag that satsumas and similar come in would work). I didn't need to do it with mine because everything is packed in tightly and there is a lid (see final pic), but again I'm trying to make this as accessible as possible for everyone using what you already have to hand.

Finished!


There you have it! Finished! A pretty, simple bug hotel to hopefully provide lots of insects with a home :-)

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Frequently asked questions
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  2 questions
  • Thea Thea on Apr 27, 2020

    Never even heard of the concept before. Do you put it on the ground? Should one wet the cardboard? Do you think various types of bugs would share it? Most people are so scared of bugs these days it is an interesting shift of thinking. Nicely done!

  • Renee Renee on May 02, 2020

    Why do we want to attract bugs?

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  • Dl.5660408 Dl.5660408 on May 02, 2020

    We just put up a carpenter bee house, this would be a very nice addition ♥️

    • See 2 previous
    • Dl.5660408 Dl.5660408 on May 03, 2020

      No, actually they are awesome pollinators at least in our area. They don’t seem interested in our stucco. Termites though are another story and we are vigilant

  • Mary Mary on May 06, 2020

    I love the idea of small bamboo sticks. I have a birdhouse my grandson made. Maybe I'll glue some small bamboo to exterior giving it a log cabin look. Mason bees are my favorite pollinators and they would be attracted to this. Awesome idea!

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