The Simple Things

Taking time to live well
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Image: Loupe Images/Emma Mitchell

Image: Loupe Images/Emma Mitchell

Make: Bug hotel

David Parker November 20, 2014

Build a bug hotel for your garden. This multi-storey insect hotel will soon fill up with guests, from ladybirds to lacewings.

You will need:
24 old bricks
Some old curved roof tiles
10 short pieces of wood
Corrugated cardboard, bamboo canes, drinking straws, old pots, logs, egg boxes, pine cones, and dry leaves
A selection of hollow tubes, such as empty cardboard tubes, loo rolls, plastic pipes and bottles

1 Find a quiet, sheltered spot in the garden and make sure that the ground is flat. Lay two rows of bricks, two bricks long and two bricks high, so that they are the same width apart as the length of your pieces of wood.
2 Put a curved roof tile between the two rows as a shelter for toads and frogs.
3 Lay three pieces of wood, spaced evenly, across the lines of bricks. Add another one or two courses of bricks and some more wood to build up the storeys. 
4 On the top layer, add an extra piece of wood at the back of the stack to make the tiles sit at an angle, so the rain runs off. 
5 Roll up pieces of corrugated cardboard, slide them inside the cardboard tubes then put these inside the hotel. Fill the other tubes and plastic pipes with a selection of hollow stems like bamboo and drinking straws. These make perfect winter ‘rooms’ for small insects.
6 You could also drill holes in the ends of logs or add other materials such as egg boxes, pine cones, and dry leaves.
7 Place more tiles on top of the final layer to form the roof of the hotel.
8 Find a flat tile or piece of slate and write the name of your hotel on it with chalk.

InMaking Tagsgarden, insects, make, november, issue 29
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Feb 27, 2025
Feb 27, 2025

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Feb 27, 2025
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The Simple Things is published by Iceberg Press

The Simple Things

Taking time to live well

We celebrate slowing down, enjoying what you have, making the most of where you live, enjoying the company of of friends and family, and feeding them well. We like to grow some of our own vegetables, visit local markets, rummage for vintage finds, and decorate our home with the plunder. We love being outdoors and enjoy the satisfaction that comes with a job well done.

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