What are they?
Insect hotels look like birdhouses or small houses. They serve as accommodation for insects. Especially in urban areas, they offer them shelter as well as places to reproduce. They are, in a way, 'Holiday Inns' for insects! However, not all insects can go there.
They are designed to house pollinators exclusively. Thus, the exclusive clientele of these luxury hotels consists in particular of bees, bumblebees, wasps, ladybugs and earwigs.
Knowing that pollinator mortality is dangerously on the rise, these hotels are therefore useful in ensuring the survival and reproduction of pollinators, an essential link in the ecosystem. Remember that pollinators help maintain the food chain. Without them, there are no apples, coffee or cocoa! Building insect hotels is therefore a gesture of eco-citizenship!
But, how do we build insect hotels?
Generally built from bricks, wooden boxes, etc., and natural elements (pots, wooden branches, straws, etc.) anything goes! From the most eccentric to the most rustic or modern.
Here are some inspirations:
How to Build an Insect Hotel & 35 Bug Hotels to Inspire You (dirthappy.com)
After construction, you just have to make sure that the hotel is sheltered from wind and the sun and close to flowers. Also, if your hotel attracts birds, you can add a fence to prevent them from having access to insect larvae. Finally, it is advisable to renew the materials placed inside the hotel every two years in order to prevent certain unwanted parasites, such as spiders, from taking shelter there.
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