Give a little shelter to some of our precious pollinators by creating this B.I.Y bee hotel! What is a bee hotel you ask? A bee hotel is just that, a hotel for solitary bees! Many of us think of honey bees when we think of bees, but there are over 20,000 different types of bees, with many being solitary! Solitary bees live by themselves, normally in holes in the ground, or small little holes in wood or housing. One of the most well known of the solitary bees is the mason bee.
Mason bees live on their own, normally setting up camp in hollow wood fixtures. They are essential pollinators, contributing to the pollination of many crops we depend on! They're essential to any garden, too, so creating a home for them will help your garden thrive! All you’ll need is a few small materials, an hour of time, and you’ll be running your very bee hotel (and helping to save the bees)! 
Materials:
- One wood piece, (we suggest 5″x 5″ x 1/4″ inch)
- Hollow wooden tubes (available at most garden supply stores, we used bamboo)
- Water-proof glue (you can use small nails if you feel comfortable)
- Hook
- Twine or rope
- Cut your wood into three or four pieces of equal length. (We did three in order to create a triangle, but it is up to you!)
- Next, you are going to cut the hollow wood tubes to be the same width of the wood pieces.
- Put the wood pieces together to form the frame shape you desire, (square or triangle), and the with the glue or nails, then set the frame.
- Now, you will insert the hollow wooden tubes into the frame, filling up the entire space.
- Once filled, add the hook to the top of your frame, loop the string through and voila! You have a beeutiful bee hotel for your backyard!
