Bee hotel

A bee hotel in Poland

Approximately 30% of the 5,000 native bee species in North America build nests in tunnels or cavities situated above ground.[1]

The 2021 scientific publication Worldwide occurrence records suggest a global decline in bee species richness indicates a downwards trend in the global bee population.[2] In order to try and reverse the perceived reduction in bee numbers, some people construct bee hotels.[3]

Bee hotels are man made items that incorporate reeds, bamboo or other materials to create a bundle of horizontal tubes, open at one end, closed at the other.[1] The horizontal tubes are 12 to 20 centimetres in length, and 2 to 12 millimetres in diameter and are all open and closed at the same ends.[1]

The nested tubes require maintenance and cleanliness as bees in hotels are more susceptible to disease, such as the spread of chalkbrood, and predation from parasitic wasps and kleptoparasites than are bees in naturally built nests.[4]

In 2015, Fairmont Hotels and Resorts added 16 more bee hotels at its locations, adding to the five it created in 2014.[5] In 2021 former Formula one driver and 4 time world champion Sebastian Vettel worked with children in Austria to make a bee hotel at the Red Bull ring.[6] A second bee hotel was created by Sebastian Vettel in 2023 at turn 2 of Suzuka International Racing Course.[7]

A bee hotel in Paris

A study of 200 bee hotels undertaken by melittologist Laurence Packer and Scott MacIvor from York University indicated that 75% of bee hotels in their study were dominated by wasps.[5] Bees, unlike wasps, favour hotels that receive direct (especially morning) sunlight, and that are closer to the ground.[5] Bee hotels located on multi-storey building rooftops and in shaded areas are more likely to attract wasps.[5] The study critiqued poorly designed and maintained bee hotels, noting that plastic tubes can be a catalyst for mould, narrower tubes can discourage female bees, and proximity of spiders can reduce bee populations.[5] Peter Hallett, a melittologist from the University of Toronto noted that the wasps observed in the study were not yellowjackets, but solitary wasps that are generally perceived more positively in North America.[5]

Melittologist Cory Sheffield of the Royal Saskatchewan Museum observed more positive trends in bee hotels used by bees in orchards in Nova Scotia and noted that some of the problems from the Toronto study were unique to cities.[5] Both Cory Sheffield and Laurence Packer encouraged creation of bee hotels, despite the issues identified in the Toronto study.[5]