An insect shelter that's genuinely used

An insect hotel is only useful if it meets the real needs of its occupants. Many decorative models mix pine cones, straw and bricks in the same frame: they're pleasing to look at, but rarely used. The most effective shelters are simpler: clean, deep cavities, closed at the back, in diameters suited to solitary bees.

Location matters as much as the object itself. Install the shelter around 1 m off the ground, firmly fixed so it doesn't sway, facing south or south-east to catch the morning sun, and protected from rain. Above all, surround it with flowers: with no food within a few hundred metres, no insect will settle there for long.

Butterfly shelters offer refuge in bad weather, with no guarantee of use. To choose, build or position a shelter, follow Insect hotel: choosing and installing it well, and discover the project A garden for pollinators.

An insect hotel, for whom?

An insect hotel brings several types of refuge together in one structure: tubes and drilled logs for solitary bees, compartments filled with pine cones, bark or straw for other small insects. It has real educational value and can be genuinely useful, provided it's well designed and well placed.

What makes a good model

• Natural materials, with no varnish or wood stain inside the cavities.
• Well-made cavities: holes drilled into the side of the wood rather than the end grain, smooth, splinter-free and closed at the back.
• An overhanging roof, which shields the compartments from rain.
• A stable structure, that doesn't move in the wind.

Installing it well

Face the front south or south-east, at least a metre off the ground, against a wall or firmly fixed to a post. The location should be sunny and sheltered from prevailing winds. Leave the hotel in place all year round: many insects overwinter in it.

Several small refuges spread around the garden are often better than one very large one, which concentrates insects and attracts predators and parasites.

Butterflies

Adult butterflies look for nectar-rich flowers, but their caterpillars often depend on specific plants: nettles, for example, feed the caterpillars of several species. A patch left wild usefully complements a butterfly shelter, which offers refuge from rain and wind.

The rest of the garden counts too

Log piles, dry stone walls, long grass and a varied hedge are all natural shelters. With no flowers nearby, or in a garden treated with pesticides, a hotel will stay barely used.