How to build a bee box

Adding the finishing touches to the bee box — Create your own bee box | © Roisin McGinn

Bees are an important sign of a healthy ecology. Bee populations have been dwindling in recent years and building homes is just one way of encouraging them to stick around. Follow the steps below to build your own nesting box to attract bees to your garden.

Take care around tools

Don't forget to ask for an adult's help before using tools or equipment.

What you'll need

Treated timber board (710mm long, 140mm wide, 20mm thick)
Recycled plastic board or corriboard (170mm square)
Block of wood (100mm long, 100mm wide and 50 mm thick)
10 sheets of paper (A4 paper cut to A5 size; rolls will be approx the length of a pen)
Sticky tape
Bamboo sticks (approx 10 100mm lengths - these can be bought pre-cut)
Drill bit and drill (5mm)
Screws or nails instead (4mm x 50mm)
Scissors

Method

Cutting the pieces of timber | © Roisin McGinn

Cut your timber

Cut the pieces of timber to the lengths shown, cutting two sections at an angle to form the slant of the roof.

Hammering in the nails to secure the side panels | © Roisin McGinn

Fix the side panels to base panel

Place the side panel on top of the base panel and drill 2 holes 10mm from the bottom. Do the same for the second panel. Hammer nails into pre-drilled holes.

Affixing the bee box back panel | © Roisin McGinn

Fix sides and base to back panel

Line up the assembled pieces to around 50mm from the bottom of the back panel. Drill holes and fix screws.

Time for a roof

Attach the small wooden block inside the box completing a square shape for the nesting materials to sit. Hammer nails into pre-drilled holes in recycled plastic roof.

Check alignment and drill holes in the back panel | © Roisin McGinn

Your bee box is taking shape

Check all your edges line up and everything is secured well. Drill holes in the backing board that you can use to drill the bee box into a wall in your garden.

Adding cylinders and tubes to the bee box | © Roisin McGinn

Furnishing your bee box

Since solitary bees - like the ones you will be attracting - like to burrow you'll have to fill the box with tubes and cylinder shapes. Add a wooden block the same width as the bee box (with pre-drilled holes of various sizes.) Roll paper around a pencil as tight as possible and secure with a piece of sticky tape. Snip off excess with scissors.

Ta-dah! Your very own garden furniture for bees

Make sure there are no gaps by filling as much of the space as possible with the bits of bamboo and paper tubes. Finally put the bee box in a secluded part of your garden an wait for bees to take up residence.

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