Wild Bee House
To further our environmental impact we pledge that for every 10 of any style of the Bat, Bee, or Bird houses sold we will donate 1 of that style to an environmental non-profit or public educational area. If you are one of these please reach out so we can add you to our list for when these become available for free to your organization!
Our bee houses are built for native Mason and Leafcutter bees. Both of which are amazing native pollinators. A single mason bee female can do the pollination work of 100-120 honeybees, and will visit up to 2,000 flowers a day spreading pollen.
Most native bee houses are actually a death trap long term because they should be cleaned out each year to stop pests and disease from building up, in the wild this happens by the stems they use decaying before they can be reused, but bamboo and drilled holes in wood can last years but is impossible to clean out easily. Routered trays or cardboard/ paper tubes are the best option for people that want to seriously create healthy bee populations, unless you throw away the bamboo/ drilled wooden blocks every other year at the least.
Dimensions:
9.5" high
11" wide
7" deep (1" is roof overhang)
5.5" tray depth
92 routered slots
Built from cedar which deters chewing insects and mold with a plywood backer these trays and boxes should last many years. The frames are both pneumatically nailed and glued with exterior wood glue to ensure that long sturdy life. If left untreated (which we and the bees prefer, though you can definitely seal or paint if you would like) after a year or so exposed to the elements the houses will patina to a natural gray color.
In order to ensure you are putting out the best home possible for your new tenants you'll want to do a bit of annual maintenance. In the fall open up the routered trays and remove the cocoons(gently). Rinse them off in a bowl of water to remove any mites that took up residence and set them out on a towl to dry. While they are drying, scrub the dirt walls out of the trays and disinfect them (nixall is great for this), then hang back up the cleaned empty house and trays. Once the cocoons are dry you just store in a cardboard box with a hole punched in. In spring when temperatures are routinely above freezing place the cardboard box out near your houses(or share the love and give some to your friends with gardens to jumpstart their bee house population once yours is thriving). the males will hatch first and fly out to await the females who hatch a couple days later. They will then mate and look for a place to live within 300 yards of where they hatched, placing the emergence box right next to or on top of your bee house will ensure they find it asap. once they locate a house they will begin pollinating and laying their eggs to start the cycle over.