Maximum temperature 21.5C
To pass time while I was waiting to go for an ultrasound scan I looked through the latest catalogue from CJ Wildlife. I thought about buying a new insect house to replace one I bought a few years ago but decided to look into building one myself. I gathered a few materials and then had another look at the old one. Though it had deteriorated it wasn't a very big job to repair it. The sides were warped. A couple of L angle brackets soon fixed that. Part of the roof had rotted away. That was quickly replaced and covered with some damp proof barrier to make it more waterproof.
I found a new place to mount it where I could easily keep an eye on any activity as it had previously been mounted out of the way in a too sheltered spot:
The only change I made was to the bottom section which was originally just an empty space with a 'holy' door to close it off. I chopped short lengths of old bamboo and filled the space with those but only to half the depth..
It didn't look as though it had ever been used by bees or lacewings, just the occasional spider, so it will be interesting to see whether a new position will attract any home hunters.
Let us hope so. It would provide some subjects for macro.
ReplyDeleteAdrian: Exactly my thinking.
DeleteI thnk Carder Bees like them but they are not the most interesting of bees.
DeleteHave a look at the Insect house / bee hotel in Morrisons, for £3 you cant make it for that. We have 2 and they are full of leafcutter bees.
ReplyDeleteDave: That's a very good price. Some places charge silly amounts.
Deleteburrow on in, buggy friends.
ReplyDeleteTWG: Here's hoping for some activity this time.
DeleteI look forward to seeing what takes up residence, John. And I am sure you will have some great images for us!
ReplyDeleteWilma: I hope it does better in its new position.
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