Wildlife World Interactive Wooden Bee House

The Wildlife World Solitary Bee Hive is an excellent, robust and well-designed resource and haven for your garden and home. I say the word 'haven' because it is just that a safe haven for solitary bees. The price is very fair for this hive which is made from good quality timber. It should, with a little forethought and care last you years and provide a nest for the bees as well as giving your flowers, garden and fruits a big boost whilst doing nature a big favour. The box is robust and requires no maintenance. To locate I would have it about 1 to 2 metres high on a warm wall or fence facing South- South East. Ideally close to flowing trees or plants. I located mine under the eaves if the roof to ensure the box is protected from the worst of the weather, snow or rain. That is really all you need to know it is a worthwhile and thoughtful investment- as a gift it is brilliant. Now the next bit is a little anecdotal and not essential to read but where else can I write this? About ten years ago I was fortunate to work as a supply teacher in a school in Stallingborough. We were doing a project on mini-beasts and I found the school had a professionally made 'solitary bees' hive. I screwed it to the wall on the classroom wall and was amazed that within a day the hive was used. During the rest of the next few months the hive was full. Now I considered myself quite well read on Mini-beasts – as a Primary Teacher I needed to be. But the hive and actually being able to observe the bees first hand was totally educating. The children learned a great deal too. If you have no idea what solitary bees are like you can 'google ' the subject yourself. But this is far better you get the opportunity to see and attract the bees first hand. Now solitary bees don't sting so they are safe for children, adults and the elderly alike. This hive will attract Orchard/Mason bees early in the season (the bees use mud to seal the grubs and eggs) later the holes will be used by leafcutter bees that use leaves rather than mud to seal theirs. Now I was amazed at just how small and ant-like solitary bees are. You really can see how the two species evolved from the same genus in the far past. By installing this box you really are helping wildlife so give your self a pat on the back and congratulate yourself. Thanks for reading. PostScript. I repositioned my beehive about 1-metre high on a South Facing Wall of the House. This was at the end of April. Within 2 days solitary bees started using the holes. Other 'hives' longs drilled with holes and cut bamboo canes have just been ignored. The key is location location location. Warm wall, and sunny South facing. I've enclosed a few photos showing close ups of the holes 7 filled by Mason Bees the 8th by leaf cutter. The hive is in constant use. PSS. One year later the bees have hatched. The males are the first to hatch and frantically try to break into the cells containing the females so they can mate. But the problem is that the new females have begun to lay a new brood so it is hard to know if and when to clean out the hive. Latest problem is a woodpecker has attacked the nesting holes in an attempt to eat the larva. Nature in the raw. Ppps. Noticed all the 'new hives' I put up have been used but this one seemed to have holes everywhere. I took the box apart and found that none of the holes had been reused. Could this because of the 'debris' left behind by this years hatchlings? Or the fact the all the bees seemed to be disturbed by the males/ I have cleaned out the tubes and place the box in the shed and plan to put it up early in the new year.

Looked great in the garden.

Very sturdy and easy to take apart. However, there are 3 negatives for me. Firstly, one of mine is cracked in the top section but this doesn't affect it's usability. Secondly, I am glad I took them both apart before using them as all the holes had lots of loose saw dust in them which I cleaned out. Thirdly, and probably the most serious, the top section of holes which you can't get to hadn't been smoothly drilled out so there were lots of thin shards of wood sticking into the holes which could be dangerous for the bees - used the cleaning brush to remove what I could but I may just block those holes up so they can't be used.

Bought as a gift.Small but built well.It is good value for money.Seems to be weatherproof so far.

I put it up on my south facing wall and within a week (June) mason bees had filled 6 holes. It came with a nice little brush to clean out the holes later on. It is much better than cheaper versions because it has screws to keep all the layers tightly together and you can unscrew it to clean all the layers when the bees have hatched out in spring. Also it has a metal protection strip down the top of the roof to stop it leaking. Cheaper versions just have a sort of roofing felt which just peels off and doesn't last year after year like this one does. This size is just right - much easier to put on a frame or wall than bigger versions.

I have bought one of these each year for the last few years and now have several attached to my garden fence. I've tried all the other styles you can think of over the years, and these are definitely the easiest to clean and extremely popular with the bees. Don't be put off by the price compared with other styles like the bamboo stick ones - there's a reason those are cheaper - they simply aren't as good (e.g. the bamboo holes aren't deep enough or the right size, impossible to clean, the wood is thin and rots quickly, gets damp etc)... So - in my opinion these ones are 100% worth getting, and this is why I'll be sticking to this type from now on. Highly recommend.

Seems quite solid in construction and its easy to put up, quality is quite good, as is the design of using bolts through so it can be taken apart for cleaning if needed. Sadly we have had no takers so far, they seem to prefer the ones I made from old pallet wood corner blocks, maybe once it's weathered things will change.

Intanto devo dire che è stupenda. Più piccola di quello che mi aspettassi ma davvero fatta molto bene. L'angolino del giardino creato è davvero idilliaco, pare uscito da una fiaba. La casina è robusta, unica pecca come ho letto in tantissime recensioni è il tetto che va assolutamente coperto. Io avevo delle tegoline canadesi che uso per tutte le casette (uccellini, scoiattolo, ricci) che ho in giardino e vanno benissimo. Proteggono la casetta per la pioggia perchè col tempo il legno si rovina inesorabilmente. Spero entrino presto le api solitarie! Ricordate che non basta comprare la casina e lasciarla in giardino o sul terrazzo dimenticandosela. Ogni autunno va controllata, smontata e pulita da insetti purtroppo morti al suo interno, per poterla rimettere fuori la primavera successiva pronta ad accogliere altre api. ottimo prodotto consigliatissimo!

This beehive is very high quality. The top of the house has a copper plate to ensure that no water/moisture seeps into the house, and the wood is non treated so it will not harm the bees. It looks nice as well - much nicer than the plastic ones, and great that you can clean it to keep the bees environment safe. There is a good volume of ports, and I like that the layers are removable to ensure that you can clean the ports each year. Note that the very top layer of ports closest to the roof do not open and are fixed. One thing I'd like to see is some information as to when it is safe to open the house to view the bees. Obviously I don't want to open it at the wrong time, and compromise the bees that are housed inside. It says that bees will use it from February onwards, but clearly that's not for Canadians given I don't see too many bees flying around then :) I'll just have to resort to Googling their lifecycles, so no biggie...I'll consider it a learning opportunity! One other thing that would make it nice is if the latches to open it could somehow be on the side vs. the bottom...or a clip vs. the screws - would make it a bit easier to open perhaps. It is a bit smaller than it looks in the pictures, but it probably has the dimensions listed in the description and I just made an assumption based on the pictures. On the bottom there are two little 'feet' that run the depth of the house. You could probably use these to mount it to a post or a base, which is what I am planning on doing. Overall I think this is one of the nicer houses out there. A little pricier but it looks nice, you can actually clean it to keep the bees environment healthy. As a side note, I have to laugh that there is a disclaimer in the description that says "bees not included"......when I opened the box and no bees came flying out I was incredibly disappointed ;) haha

This little pollinator hotel is great. It is well made easy to take apart and clean. Plus small and attractive enough that it can sit on my porch or gazebo. I thought about leaving it out in the garden but its so pretty I keep it under cover and the solitary bees and wasps still find it.

Hallo Wir besitzen vier von den Häusern und alle wurden vollständig angenommen. Bei zwei Häusern habe ich die Brut entnommen und Schlüpfkartons umgesiedelt, die Häuser habe ich gereinigt und für die neue Saison leer wieder angebracht. Es sind die perfekten Häuser um Kindern zu zeigen wie der Zyklus der Mauerbienen funktioniert. Die anderen beiden Häuser stehen bei mir auf dem Balkon, die ersten Bienen sind schon letzte Woche geschlüpft. Ich finde die Nisthilfe toll von der Optik, Verarbeitung und Handhabung, aber was viel wichtiger ist meine gehörnten Mauerbienen lieben die Häuser. Übrigens... Mauerbienen haben nur eine kurze Zeitspanne wo sie die Häuser besiedeln. Die gehörnte von Anfang März bis Ende April und die rote Mauerbiene von April bis Juni. Wenn die Nisthilfen danach aufgestellt werden kommt auch nicht rein. Grüße

Está muy bien acabada y la compré porque quería tener otra "casa" o nido de abejas solitarias, ya que son las que más y mejor polinizan el huerto o el jardín. Al contrario que en el norte de Europa, por aquí no se suelen encontrar este tipo de productos. Por suerte las venden en Amazon Nota: Parece más grande de lo que es en las fotos.