The best place to put an insect hotel is a sheltered area out of the wind around 5-8 feet off of the ground. Keep bug hotels in a place out of reach of dogs and cats and in an area that gets morning sun to prevent mold. Protect your bug hotel from rain by making it with a waterproof roof or place it under a garden shed verandah.
This article will explore the best place to put an insect hotel in your backyard to keep it protected and safe for visiting insects.
The best place for your insect hotel | 5 Tips
Check out these easy tips to find the perfect place for your insect hotel. This will help to keep them protected from predators, will prevent mold and will attract a wide range of insects to the hotel.
1. Find a spot with shelter
Place your insect hotel in a position where it is sheltered from rain and wind. Keeping water off of the hotel will help to keep the insects home dry and will prevent mold.
Insects will find a home in your hotel if it is well protected from the weather. Insects seek out dry and protected positions to make their nests.
2. Place it 5-8 feet of the ground
Find a position for your insect hotel that is at least 5-8 feet off of the ground. This will keep it out of reach of cats, dogs, rats and mice.
This will make it easy for flying insects to make their way in and will keep their natural predators, skinks and lizards out. You can attach the insect hotel to a tree, to your garden fence or even under a verandah.
Use cable ties or natural rope to attach the insect hotel high up. You can also use a nail and hand the hotel up in this position. Just make sure it doesn’t move in the wind as the insects will be less likely to land and build their nests if it moves.
3. Place it in a position that gets morning sun
Place insect hotel in a position that gets morning sun as this will help to prevent mold growth. Insects like to find a warm and protected position.
Place the hotel east to north-east for a few hours of morning sun.
4. Place it near an existing tree
Placing your insect hotel near an existing tree or bush will make it easy for insects to transfer safely over to your insect hotel. Insects will be naturally living nearby and find it easy to move and nest in your hotel.
You can attract native flies, wasps, moths and even bees if you place your hotel near a tree.
5. Keep it protected from cats and dogs
Finding a position that keeps the bug hotel out of reach of cats and dogs is essential. They can easily knock the hotel off and disturb your insects if they can reach it.
Placing it above 5 feet will help to keep it out of reach of dogs. Keep it up and out of the way of areas that cats can climb.
How to attract bugs to an insect hotel
To attract bugs to an insect hotel place it in a sheltered area, where it gets a few hours of morning sun and is protected from wind and rain. Place it 5-8 feet off of the ground in an area
Check out these easy tips to attract more bugs to your insect hotel.
Plant a variety of flowers that attract pollinators
If you are keen on attracting pollinating insects to your hotel like bees then plant a variety of flowers for them to feed on.
Providing food for your insects will encourage them to visit your garden and make a home in your insect hotel. Make sure that you have lots of flowers with plenty of pollen available for the pollinators. Here is the list of flower seeds included with my new insect hotel. Which provide lots of pollen for local bees.
- Calendula
- Cornflower
- Californian Poppy
- Fineflower
- Toadflax
- Alyssum
- Wallflower
- Nemophila
- Poppy
- Marigold
- Chinese Forget-Me-Not
- Borage
- Evening Primrose
- Lavender
- Native Violet
- Swan River Daisy
- Sage
Avoid Using Pesticides
To attract insects to your insect hotel avoid using pesticides in your garden. I use organic fertilizers and no pesticides at all in my garden to encourage a natural balance in bacteria and insects.
As the insects in your garden find balance, predatory insects like ladybugs and dragonflies will balance out any species trying to eat your plants like aphids.
Plant a range of flowers, herbs and vegetables in your garden so that the diversity in foliage supports a range of insects to set up home in your backyard.
Insect hotels are a good idea for your backyard
Adding an insect hotel to your backyard is a good idea if you want to increase the population of insects including bees. Insects are vital to the health of our backyards and local ecosystems.
Insects are food for other animals, they pollinate our fruit and help to break down organic matter in our garden.
Adding an insect hotel to your garden is a great way to support our insect population providing them with shelter and structure to build their homes.
Some gardens can have limited places for bugs to set up their home so providing a bug hotel gives them extra real estate to live in. These are perfect for tiny urban gardens like mine as they can fill a vertical space up a wall that you aren’t using for anything else.
Insect hotels can be used in big backyards, tiny urban yards like mine or even balconies. There are lots of different ways to build these hotels and their design will affect the types of insects that will set up home in your insect hotel.
Here are some key tips for choosing or making your own insect hotel from the ecologist in the video!
- Start small
- Use recycled materials
- Fill the hotel with different hole sizes (bamboo, old sticks, folded bark or clay with holes) 3-10mm
How to choose an insect hotel
Make sure your insect hotel has a solid roof, otherwise it could fill with water and grow mold. I also chose one that had an enclosed back which provides more shelter for the bugs inside.
It is also best to choose one to match your garden size, I have started with a small insect hotel for my tiny townhouse garden. If you have a bigger yard or a larger property you build multiple insect hotels or make 1 large one.
What to put in insect hotels to attract insects
Insect hotel should be filled with small twigs, hollow bamboo stems, clay with holes or old wood. This will create the perfect home for a variety of insects. You don’t need to put anything extra in insect hotels with anything to attract them.
Insects will come and visit the hotel to nest and get shelter from rain and wind. If they find the right size hole, they may also nest and lay eggs.
Insects that live in an insect hotel
An insect hotel can become a home for solitary bees, ladybirds, spiders, flies or even wasps. You should check your insect hotel often to see what insects are living there. Insect hotels can be used as temporary shelter for visiting insects to escape rain and wind.
Even if they don’t set up a permanent home it can be a good refuge for a short time.
If you place your insect hotel on the ground you will attract ground dwelling insects and even small lizards and skinks. I hope to attract flying insects like bees and ladybugs so I have placed mine high on a ledge above my vegetable garden.
I have recently let my Pak Choy go to flower which has attracted bees to their yellow flowers. It will take a few weeks for insects to find and set up home in my insect hotel.
How to clean an insect hotel
If your insect hotel has become home to spiders or wasps over time you may need to clean the hotel out to make room for other visitors.
Clean your insect hotel simply using an old dustpan broom to remove old webs and dirt. Use gloves and take care that there isn’t anything still living in your insect hotel when you clean it.
If you find that wasps or bees have brought in mud or clay to close up the end of the holes, use a stick to clean them out. Make sure the bugs have left your hotel first before you do this and take care.
Benefits of an insect hotel
Insect hotels benefit the local insect population, the local ecosystem and your backyard. They will provide a home for visiting insects including pollinating insects like bees. These will help to pollinate fruit and flowers in our garden helping tomatoes, strawberries, lemons and apples to set fruit.
Our native bees colonies are declining so adding an insect hotel support them in our gardens will benefit them and us.
The insects will also an important food source for birds and lizards in your garden. Adding an insect hotel will benefit the natural ecology of your garden to grow and diversify.
Best place to put an insect hotel – Summary
Insect hotels will attract insects within 2-4 weeks if placed near your garden, in a protected area that gets afternoon shade. Protect the insect hotel from dogs, cats and rain and you will soon have a hotel full of insects.
I am an accredited practicing dietitian, experienced gardener and a dedicated cook. I love writing and sharing my experience so you can learn from my successes and mistakes.
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