How Do Insect Hotels Work?

Insect populations are in trouble, but creating shelters for them could help. Learn the basics of building an insect hotel in this episode of BrainStuff, based on this article: https://animals.howstuffworks.com/insects/insect-hotel.htm

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:01):
Welcome to brain Stuff, a production of iHeart Radio, Hey
brain Stuff Lauren Vogelbaum. Here, bugs need places to hang out,
just like everybody else. If you're a garden or yard
has a little bit of fallow ground, you could give
some insects a place to lay down their weary head
and thorax and everything else. Populations of terrestrial insects all

(00:27):
over the world are declining at a rate that has
alarmed scientists. In a German study found that the overall
biomass of flying insects has declined by up to seventy
worldwide in the past thirty years, for reasons that aren't
yet completely understood. A study published in January one in

(00:49):
the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences confirmed
the same conclusion. Bugs are in trouble, which doesn't bode
well for the rest of us. However, assigned is studying
the decline recommend protecting wild habitats and spaces friendly to
insects while they figure it out. Enter insect hotels. These

(01:10):
are structures that give bugs protection from predators as well
as a place to overwinter, nest, lay eggs, and care
for their young. Although it's helpful to know exactly what
sorts of insects you want to lower to your yard
or garden before creating your insect hotel. There are a
few types to consider as you're designing structure. One of

(01:33):
the groups of insects hit hardest in the past few
decades is solitary bees, which are important pollinators and most
often stingless. We tend to think of bees as social
and moderately threatening, but most be species nest alone in
holes in the ground of The diameter of the preferred
hole varies between species. Meanwhile, centipedes, which eat garden slugs,

(01:56):
garden spiders which control other pests would lie and beetles
love rotting logs, pollinating hoverflies and avid eating ladybugs prefer
bundles of twigs and sticks, while lacewings, which eat many
different garden pests from scale insects to mites, like to
nest and straw dried grass or rolled up cardboard. Insect

(02:18):
hotels are a favor to our many legged friends, but
are definitely an art project as well. The Guinness World
Record for the biggest bug hotel, awarded in March of
two in the Scottish Highlands, is one ninety nine point
nine cubic meters in volume that's seven thousand and fifty
nine cubic feet. It's fashioned from a fallen spruce, bricks,

(02:41):
bamboo canes, wood chips, bark, wildflower seeds, clay pipes, and
strawberry netting, but any collection of rotting logs, lichens, cinder blocks,
wood palettes, and wooden blocks will make many different species happy.
The trick is to drill or construct your setup with
various sized holes of different depths between about a quarter

(03:03):
two half an inch in diameter that's about half to
one centimeter, plus some hollow twigs and stems. It's important
to not use plastic sheeting in your insect hotel because
moisture can lead to mold that can harm insects. As
insects often like sheltered areas, where you locate your insect
hotel is an important consideration. Many insects like relatively damn conditions,

(03:28):
but solitary bees prefer direct sun and low humidity. It's
also important to clean out and restock and refurbish your
insect hotel from time to time, using great care not
to disturb any eggs or remaining residents. This will keep
your little buddies healthy and coming back to stay. There
are lots of guides online to help you build something

(03:49):
appropriate for your local critters. Today's episode is based on
the article Insect Hotels roll out the Welcome that for
Bugs of all kinds on how stuff works dot com,
written by Joslyn Shields. The brain Stuff is production of
Our Heart Radio in partnership with how stuff works dot com,
and it is produced by Tyler Clang. Four more podcasts

(04:11):
from my heart Radio visit the heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts,
or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.