Solitary Bee Observation Hive

Solitary Bee Observation Hives are a great way to engage those that might otherwise be wary of bees, especially young people.
They make the perfect educational tool for school curricula concerning insects, pollinators, environment, climate, weather, ecosystems and the natural world in general.

Set up and Locate.

It is recommended to treat all external timber with an insect friendly, water repellent wood treatment.
We have a choice of suitable treatments on our website here - Bee Hive Wood Treatments
It is also advisable to 'oil' all other wooden surfaces, except for the internal nesting tunnels, with an inert damp proof treatment such as petroleum jelly or liquid paraffin.

Position ideally not in perpetual shade, 3-5 feet off the ground.
The hive can be attached to a fence, wall, post or tree by first fixing a vertical batten or horizontal battens of timber to the back of the hive and then fixing or attaching them to the support.

There are over 200 species of solitary bee that have different breeding periods from spring until the end of summer.
Female bees, after emergence and mating at the start of the season (when temperatures start to go above 14 C), will seek suitable nest sites to lay their eggs.
Those that look for natural cracks, crevices and hollows will use the tunnels in the hive, most commonly, species of Mason Bee and Leafcutter Bee.
They will gather pollen and nectar to supply each egg that they lay.
Each larva will eventually change to an adult and will remain like that until the following year when they emerge to start the cycle again.

The image below shows mud lined cells built by Mason Bees, each supplied with a mixture of pollen and nectar, in tunnels seen in our Solitary Bee Observation Hive. Two different species are using different sized tunnels here.

Management and maintenance.

The management of the hive is advisable to maintain a healthy bee population. Go to Solitary Bee Hive Management to learn more.