How to Use a Bee House: Tips for Installation and Care

Between my gardening practices, the plants I dig into my garden, and structures like my pollinator palace, I’m always looking for ways to support bees and other beneficial insects on my property. While bee houses have become quite popular, they don’t always come with the information on how to use one.

Thanks to recent pollinator conservation research, we’re all learning how to better support various bee species, including leafcutter bees, solitary bees, and solitary wasps, among others. It all comes down to supplying suitable habitat—replaceable tubes are the most hygienic—and installing the bee house in a calm, mostly sunny spot. Being fastidious with annual bee house maintenance is also essential. This article will provide tips on installing a bee house, as well as advice on how to maintain it year after year.

Not all bee condos are created equal. From the materials they contain to their location and long-term maintenance, here’s all you need to know to do right by your area pollinators.

Unlike non-native honey bees, which often live within human-managed hives, many of our native bees have more solitary habits. Nesting alone in natural cavities, like the hollow stems of dead plants, individual females will crawl inside to lay their eggs and set aside pollen stores—one egg and one little blob of pollen per chamber. Once a tunnel is filled with these chambers, the female seals the tunnel’s exposed end with leaves, mud, or other materials.

Made from manmade or natural items, a bee house is simply an arrangement of empty tubes or tunnels intended to provide nests for solitary pollinators.

Knowing how to use a bee house properly is more important than ever because our native bees