Inspired of several articles regarding the global death of bees, I decided to do my best to at least make the life easier for some bees by building a bee house.

There are several nests available to buy, but it’s more fun to build one and it is easy! Drawings are on the bottom of this post.

Required materials:

This is what I have used to build the bee house/nest:

• 25 cm 90x90mm pinewood (Alternative 4″x 4″ can be used)
• 10 cm 48x98mm (2″ x 4″)
• 2 wooden plugs
• Glue for outdoor use
• 5 cm steel strap
• 3 wood screws
• Outdoor paint
• Drilling machine / Pillar drill
• Drills: 4, 6 and 8 mm

Assembly:

Start of by gluing two pieces of 2″ x 4″ together, if you don’t have a 4″x 4″. Then let it dry.

Drill 5 columns with holes. First I made the 4mm holes, secondly the 8mm and to the last 6mm in the midle. The distanse between the rows are equal for each column.

Make sure not to drill through all. It’s important to keep a wall in the back. I used a Pilar drill with a depth stop, but if you are using a regular drilling machine, a tape on the drill bit can help you to get the correct depth.

When all the holes are drilled, use sandpaper to remove all sharp edges.

To keep my fingers away when I cut the roof, I used a screw clamp.

Drill two holes on the bottom of the roof piece. Secondly drill two holes on the top of the other piece with the same diameter and location from the back wall.

It’s possible to measure the location, but using a copy tool makes it easier. See the picture above.

Glue the roof, wooden pins and the body together with outdoor glue. Let it dry.

I used a brown outdoor paint to match the color on the wall I’ll put it up. A good paint will extend the life of the house. Make sure not to paint in the wholes where the bees are living.

Installation

The bee house is installed on the wall by using a flexible steel strap. Next step is now to wait for the bees to move in!

While you are waiting for the bees, you might want to read more about your new tenants 🙂 You can find information here at Wikipedia

Drawings:

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I will also recommend you checking out the Bumble house / nest box