What’s all the buzz about bee hotels?

2 June 2021

With habitat loss being the biggest threat to pollinators in
Ireland, many people are looking to bee hotels as a simple way of turning the
tide. 

Bee hotels are artificial nesting structures that are
designed to attract pollinators by giving them small cavities for egg-laying.
In recent years, they’ve cropped up in garden centres and nature reserves across
Ireland.  

And with the second phase of the All-Ireland Pollinator Plan
kicking off this year, proponents of the structure hope they’ll continue to
crop up in gardens all over the country.

Horticulturalist Sean Keane, who wrote his master’s thesis
on how to build an ideal and scientifically sound bee hotel, says they bring
“welcome wildlife”.

“The aspect of having a bee hotel that I love is the cavity
nesting solitary bees. They’re real characters. You have mason bees, leaf
cutters, and wool carder bees, and each use different materials to build their
nests,” he told The Green News.

Sean has built around 50 bee hotels over the past year and
has become well acquainted with the care needs of models once built.

Any reeds and tubing that is used by the bees for nesting
must be replaced each year for hygiene reasons, otherwise there can be harmful
consequences for the hotel inhabitants.

“Bee hotels house insects in higher concentrations than
would be found in nature, which makes bee hotels inviting to parasites and
predators. And like ourselves with Covid-19, being so close together can cause
rapid spread of disease,” he said.

To counter this risk of parasites spreading in hotels, he
recommends having several small bee hotels as opposed to a one large one.

The benefits of bee hotels

When they are built and placed according to known scientific
parameters, bee hotels can be highly effective.

“It’s important to follow All-Ireland Pollinator Plan guidelines
and the advice of scientists. I’m a horticulturalist, but I take my lead from
the National Biodiversity Data Centre, and not any commercial entities selling
bee hotels,” he explained.

Scientists such as UCD Assistant Professor, Dr Simon Hodge,
who has conducted research into the habitat preferences of wild pollinators in
Irish agricultural landscapes, says that bee hotels can both be educational and
beneficial.

He adds that alongside the satisfaction of having an
occupied bee hotel in your garden, they also provide key pollination
services. 

“Much research overseas has shown that solitary bees are
important pollinators of both flowers and soft fruit crops such as blueberries
and strawberries. They also don’t fly too far from the nest they are creating,
so if you have nest-building bees it is likely they are visiting flowers close
by,” he said.

The popularity of bee hotels is due in part to the
continually declining populations of pollinators in Ireland.

In order to thrive, pollinators need a diverse, year-round
range of food sources from flowers and undisturbed areas in which to nest and
lay eggs. However, ongoing habitat loss and degradation are threatening these
vital conditions, according to Professor Jane Stout.

Insecticides can impact pollinator behaviour and physiology
and they can even kill them, according to Prof Stout.

“But herbicides and fungicides can also impact them by
affecting their food sources and having effects on their biology,” she added.

As 90 per cent of plant flowering species worldwide are
animal-pollinated, bees play a key role in maintaining healthy ecosystems.

As a way of sustaining their essential role, scientists have
recommended that natural habitats across public and private land are restored.

The All-Ireland Pollinator Plan, of which Professor Stout is
a co-founder, aims to see such restoration. It outlines actions to be taken
across all sectors, “to provide food, shelter and safety for pollinators across
Ireland.”

Now in its second instalment, the five-year plan beginning
this year has 186 actions spread across six objectives, ranging from making
Irish farmlands more pollinator friendly, to outlining how to conserve rare
pollinator species.

The plan also hopes to encourage more people to pledge their
garden for pollinators, and bee hotels are set to continue to be a centrepiece
in the effort.

“The model I make is a proven one, I’m simply just a builder
and a well-informed chap. There’s no harm in talking to others with residents
in their bee hotels,” Mr. Keane said.

Story by Thomas Hamilton

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