Keep The Bees In Your Yard By Providing The Simplest DIY House From Bamboo Sticks

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There's more than one way to support the bees in your yard. Of course, there are the usual methods, like planting native flora filled with the sweet nectar bees like for lunch, or making a watering hole just for your striped, buzzy friends. Nice ideas all, but did you know that it's also possible to make your very own bee house? Such an addition gives your bee friends a home that all but ensures that they stay in your yard. Better yet, they're super easy to make. You just need a handful of strings and bamboo sticks to get started.

As far as the bamboo sticks go, you have options. If you're after materials that'll match the vibe of, say, your Japanese meditation garden, something like Rivajam Bamboo Sticks for Crafts would make a handsome addition to your backyard aesthetic. Although the sticks are all roughly the same size, no two are exactly alike, which makes them look more natural. On the other hand, if uniformity plays a role in your outdoor decor, opt for something like POLLIBEE Mason Bee Tubes instead. You just want to make sure that they're smooth inside. Bees don't care for bee hotels with rough interior walls, so keep your choices smooth and spa-like, for lack of a better way to say it. Once you have your sticks, it's time to gather the string or twine you'll be binding your bee hotel together with, some scissors, a bit of thick mud from the garden, and some gloves to work with.

At the most basic level, this DIY is just a handful of bamboo sticks that you bundle together. You want to make sure the bundle is tight to prevent the sticks from sliding out, so wrap the twine tightly around the bundle multiple times. You'll also need to close one end of your bee house — bees won't nest there otherwise. A small dab of mud on one end of the sticks will do the trick. 

Once the bamboo sticks are bundled together, it's time to put up your bee house. Look for a place that's fairly solid for greater stability. The crook between two tree branches or a sunny spot under the overhang of your shed's roof gives the bee hotel a less shaky foundation than a single branch would.

This little bee nest will appeal to parties of one. In other words, your home hive will most likely attract female bees that work on their own without a queen and without an army. You'll probably see beneficial bee species like mason or carpenter bees moving in, though there could be other types that take up residence as well. In the wild, this bee type looks for places like hollowed-out plants for their nests. Your bamboo tubes will serve as a substitute for these natural bee-hiding spots. Finally, keep in mind that it's best to replace bee hotels of this type each year to prevent bee-killing fungi from killing next year's bees.