How to make a woodblock bee hotel…tips and tricks included!
Image by Kit Prendergast
by Emma Cutting with loads of amazing info from the Bee Babette and Steve Prendergast
I found making bee hotels much harder and more time-consuming than I had originally thought. It all seemed so easy in some of the ‘How-tos’! And, as it turned out, there were so many tips and tricks I worked out along the way from amazing people like Steve and Kit and also through my own experience.
So here is the guide I would have loved to have before starting this project (me being someone who has very little knowledge around tools but is keen to learn!).
Good luck!
Wood block bee hotel and drilling tips
You will need…
• Wood block- H200mm x W50mm x L250mm, untreated Australian hardwood (Length always needs to stay the same but H and W can vary-just drill fewer holes)
• Metal hook
• Rope
• Drill
• Drill bits (use a number of drill bits between 3mm and 10mm wide and at least 100 mm deep — it can be tricky to find this length for the smaller diameter holes so just do your best)
How to…
1- Make sure wood is dry and, again, make sure it is UNTREATED as chemicals are toxic to bees.
2- On the side of the block, mark out the hole pattern (you can rule lines about 5 cm apart both vertically and horizontally and where they cross is where you drill… or just randomly drill!).
3- Secure the wooden block in a wood work vice or on a flat surface.
4- Drill all holes with your smallest size drill bit first(3mm). Then for the larger holes, drill over the small ‘pilot holes’.
5- To drill a hole, attach your drill bit, mark on the drill bit with a marker pen how deep you need to go, drill a small way down, pull up with the drill still going, gently tap on table to get rid of excess wood waste.
6- Repeat until the drill has reached the required depth. You may need to repeat the drilling process a numerous times as the waste materials from the wood you are drilling will fill up the flutes in the drill (see drill tips for more on this).
7- Drill hole on top for the hook (slightly smaller than the width of the metal hook) and screw the hook into the top.
8- Tie your amazing bee hotel to a tree or star picket at about 1.5 m height using the rope on the hook. Make sure it doesn’t move around in the breeze too much.
Drilling Tips…
• I found the cleaning of the drill bit to be really time consuming. The simple way to remove the waste from the drill is to use a wire brush to 'sweep' the waste materials from the flutes in the drill (do this with the drill disconnected from the power supply).
• Always drill along the grain of the wood (with hardwood it is mightily difficult to drill against the grain so you will know if you are doing it right or not).
• Remember that the drill bit will be hot and needs to cool down if you are drilling a lot of holes.
• For a standard 15 hole design: five 3 mm holes + five 8 mm + five 10 mm holes, it takes at least 20 mins for the drilling process. Ideas for drill bits…