There are over 1700 species of native bees in Australia, and they play an extremely important environmental role, working tirelessly as pollinators. So, it makes sense that your garden is as bee friendly as possible. That means providing food for them with flowers, water to drink, gardening organically without any chemical sprays, and providing habitat, which means somewhere for them to live. By providing food and water in your garden, you can encourage native bees to visit. By building them a hotel, you can encourage them to stay!

As with anything in nature, diversity is best, so use a mix of these materials to start with:

• Fennel stems: strip foliage from main stem and cut into lengths with at least 10-15cm of pithy stem between joints. Soft stems of lantana, grapevines and hydrangeas are also good.
• Bamboo hollows: Choose mostly thin sections of bamboo, cut into lengths. Pick stems that have 10-20cm between joints, then cut just below one joint so there is a good long hollow section available to the bees. Lengths of bamboo are an excellent choice, as the entrance is just the right size for bees. Seal one end so they feel safe enough to lay eggs.
• Drilled logs: If you have tree stumps or logs, drilling holes in them is all you need to do. No logs? Any offcuts of timber will do, but make sure they have not been chemically treated. Cut into blocks or logs about 20-30cm long, then drill holes at least 10cm deep into the cut end, using a range of drill bits from 3-8mm. Space the holes around 2cm apart. Drill the holes so the entrance faces sideways, not straight up.
• Clay-packed pipes and blocks: Some bees make nests in the soil, so you can replicate this by packing clay, builder’s clay or clay soil into PVC piping or concrete blocks. Using a stick about 8mm wide, poke holes into the clay around 10-15cm deep then leave to dry out. Bees like to stick together, so provide space for at least 10-20 individuals.

• Cement breezeblocks and bricks with holes in them are remarkably simple hotels as long as one side is sealed – use a natural material like clay, mud or even mulch or dead leaves to seal.
• You could also use an old plastic CRT (Cathode Ray Tube) TV hollowed out. There are a lot of air vents along the sides, back and bottom, these are great for good air circulation. Attach Corflute Sheet (also known as project panel – available from hardware stores) to the inside ceiling of the bee hotel to keep the rain out.

• The native bee hotel should ideally be facing between the North and East, in a sunny to semi-shaded position that is sheltered, above 1 metre off the ground, but no higher than 2 metres. Make sure it will not get too hot in summer.
• Put a sloping roof on the hotel with a generous overhang. A little bee landing strip would be appreciated, too.
• Over winter it is important to clean out old nesting material to reduce the risk of diseases.
• Think about building a bee restaurant nearby too. Planting food for bees is as important as building them hotels. For this, the key is to use local native Australian plants in your garden— ones with nectar-producing flowers, such as banksias, melaleucas, grevilleas, and eucalypts. Daisies, fan flowers, and pea flowers are also good.
• Keep a source of water nearby for them to drink if they get thirsty.

Here are some features to avoid:

• Avoid composite materials such as cardboard, particle board, or chipboard for the frame, as these disintegrate in wet weather.
• No backing board to the hotel, leaving insects exposed to wind and rain
• No protective roof, or roof without overhang
• Bamboo sticks all the same (large) size — holes more than 1cm across will not get used
• Bamboo cut so the nodes (the “walls” within the stem) are at the front, blocking entry
• Splinters and rough edges inside holes — these can rip fragile wings
• Shallow (less than 15cm) nest tubes — some bees lay female eggs at the back and males at the front of a 10-15cm tunnel; if it is too short, you will only get males and no future egg-layers.
• Plastic or glass tubes — these hold too much moisture
• Do not seal the end with superglue

Once your hotel is up and running, it should not take long before your first guests arrive. Watch them from a safe distance and enjoy your new backyard friends!