How to set up an Insect Hotel (The Ideal Location)
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How to set up an Insect Hotel (The Ideal Location)
An insect hotel is decorative and useful. Whether wild bees, hoverflies and the like are quartered there depends, among other things, on the right location.
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How to set up an insect hotel correctly.
An insect hotel in the garden is a great thing. With the living space for humming and crawling garden visitors, you not only make a contribution to nature conservation but also attract diligent pollinators and all sorts of beneficial organisms to your garden.
All sides - humans, animals, and nature - benefit from the hostel for insects. So that the animals also accept their new apartments well, there are a few things you should consider when setting up an insect hotel.
Because earwigs, hoverflies, and ladybugs don't feel comfortable in every corner of the garden. Depending on the type of insect hotel, you should choose the right location in your garden so that the apartments do not remain empty in the end.
What is an insect hotel for?
Contrary to popular belief, an insect hotel is rarely overwintering. In order to protect themselves from the cold temperatures, ladybugs, flies, and bees hide in hedges, trusses or scales in winter.
The cramped insect hotels are not airy and spacious enough to stay there all winter.
In addition, for example, ladybirds hibernate in large groups of several hundred animals, which would find no place in an insect hotel.
Insect hotels, on the other hand, are used to provide trouble-free nesting sites in a world of house wall insulation and surface sealing.
With a suitable insect hotel at the right location, you support the beneficial organisms above all with reproduction.
Insect hotel: the right location
Find the best possible sunny spot for your insect hotel in the garden. Insects like to be warm, and the natural materials heat up well when exposed to sunlight.
The animals need warmth for their brood. In addition, a full-sun location prevents fungal attack and rotting on the house.
At the same time, the insect hotel should be protected from wind and rain.
If possible, when setting up an insect hotel in the garden, pay attention to the flight path in which the flying garden helpers get to the house.
This should run along the side away from the weather so that a smooth approach is possible.
Do not place the insect hotel in a hidden location, but in a clearly visible location to attract the animals.
Bed and breakfast, please!
Not only the weather plays a role in the settlement of an insect hotel, but also the food supply.
Optimally there is enough food for the crawlers in the immediate vicinity of the installation site of the insect hotel, for example, fruit trees, ivy, and clover for bees, lilac or elderberry for butterflies and hoverflies, columbine, wild mallow and meadow sage for bumblebees, etc.
Since many insects practice nesting, you benefit from short distances from the forage plant to the nesting site.
The immediate proximity to the most important food plants (about 300 meters) should, therefore, be taken into account when setting up an insect hotel.
Furthermore, many insects need plenty of water, sand, and clay to lay their eggs and brood care, with which they line or hide their hiding places.
When setting up an insect hotel, check whether these raw materials are available in your garden around the location, or provide them in a flat bowl.
Tip: An insect hotel only works if it is made of the right material and meets the needs of the residents.
Ready-made insect houses from the supermarket are unfortunately often unsuitable!
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Last update on 2025-05-15 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API
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