I share your excitement @Ilona.S I have had a bee hotel for the past two or three years and for the first time I have guests in it too just this week. I think they are leaf cutter bees as they have bunged up the entrance with a small piece of leaf/foliage. We moved the hotel from 8 - 10 foot up a wall to around 6 foot and perhaps this has made the difference in the bee's interest.
I'm starting to wish I'd bought one instead of making my own. I've made the wooden box ok but it's finding enough hollow plant stems to fill it. I've used valerian and teasel so far in varying diameters and have bought bamboo canes. But it looks like I'll have to drill the bamboo because surprisingly little of it is hollow.
@Fishy65: You could use Cow Parsley stems (various diameters are available from a single plant), also Alexanders (full name Parsley of Alexandria), if you're near enough to the coast. I've used all of the aforementioned stems, and find ready acceptance provided that the 'hotel' is not positioned too high up - sunny wall or garden shed, the 'support' medium doesn't seem to matter much. *[If you're fairly hardy, nettle stems are hollow too! Tongue firmly in cheek!]. Good luck with your renewed efforts!!
Your point on the above post re: bee hotel being too high certainly was the problem for our hotel @David Matthews2 . We had the bee hotel 9 foot from the ground on a south facing wall, no bees, we lowered it to 6 foot above ground level this year and have quite a few hotel rooms in use for the first time.
After seeing a piece on Gardeners World I decided to make a bee hotel using a log and drilling 15 cm long holes of differing sizes into it but realised that none of my drill bits are that long, I will figure it out before next spring.
Good to hear of your recent success, @Guernsey Donkey2 : I also found that having a wide range of differently-sized 'rooms' makes for a relatively high 'occupancy rate' - but you do have to be patient! *Elder twigs are relatively easy to hollow out having a soft pith in the centre.
Ilona.S
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