Insect hotel

An insect or insects House Hotel, rare insects or insect asylum case, is an artificial nesting and wintering Help for insects that will spread increasingly since the 1990s, especially in natural gardeners and in school biology. As a practically implementable by anyone with little effort insect protection measures, the facilities were introduced in particular by numerous European nature conservation organizations, they play an important role in the context of permaculture. First "Wild bee boxes " were built by private individuals in England in the 19th century. These were then mainly for observation purposes, but can be considered forerunners of today's suitable for several groups of insects insects hotels.

There are insects hotels in different sizes and with different equipment. In most cases, they are on - from gardeners view - oriented " beneficial insects ". The variety includes both small creative individual buildings as well as large, usually wall-like and prefabricated kits that are usually offered by manufacturers who also sell nest boxes and bird houses. Large and Custom insects hotels to be built by companies in the garden and landscaping. There are both on trees or existing building walls ajar or pre-built as well as free-standing insect hotels.

The term " insect hotel " was colloquially in reference to the house -like appearance of modern plants, which by free-standing multi-storey construction and - a distinctively pronounced roof constructions - for protection against the weather.

Motivation and benefits

Through intensive human intervention in the natural landscape - among other things through extensive use of pesticides in agriculture and horticulture, and through our in private gardens tendency to " tidy " Landscape - are many natural insect habitats such as open Lehmtrockenhänge or dead wood only a very limited form. These operations are referred to as a habitat destruction.

Not only in the wild, in gardens help many " predators " such as bumble bees, wild bees, slip, wrinkle, grave and Wegwespen, lacewings or earwigs by dusting and as free organic " pest control ", the ecological balance to preserve.

In addition, insect hotels are also built for teaching purposes, for example for the general public at garden shows and in parks or schools that want to bring children close to the biology of insects and practical conservation vividly.

Environmental Education

Insects hotels make an important contribution to environmental education, because the observation of the wild bees nest building is easier possible to find than bees nests in nature.

Species protection

Insects hotels do not help to protect Red List species and therefore can not be understood as a direct species protection. They are mainly of frequently occurring Kulturfolger bees settled (for example, Red Mason Bee ( Osmia bicornis) ). Rarely occurring bee species live mostly in response to specific plant species, partly in connection with special habitat structures such as cliffs. In order to promote the occurrence of rare species of bees, it is important to refrain from pesticides and convert existing monotonous lawns in wildflower meadows by mowing only the land still once or twice a year. Trails that lead through the meadows, are desirable because most bee species nest in the ground. In addition, you can enhance these areas with dead wood and rock piles.

Materials and construction

Insects hotels consist almost entirely of natural materials, including wood ( tree grates, tree branches, wood wool ), bark, straw, hay, reeds, bamboo sticks, twigs, peat and clay. In addition, only to be porous, perforated bricks, terracotta flower pots and sometimes plastic pipes for filling, metals for fixtures and possibly as a prestressed wire mesh to protect against birds ( 3-4 cm protruding), roofing felt or similar covers, as well as weather-resistant glaze at the used timber or colorful design of some pieces of wood used frequently. What is important is that the filling materials are dry and free of all types of wood preservative chemicals.

The basic structure of the most common kits for freestanding insects Hotels consists of long timbers from which the rectangular display case similar skeleton is formed, and from cross slats that divide the center area in compartments. The uprights are firmly anchored in the ground and as the upper completion of construction, a pitched roof is put on. The compartments are filled with different void- rich materials. Larger cavities, for example, or between bricks smaller openings, such as holes are filled with bamboo canes, reeds, etc., in hardwood discs (usually different diameters from 2 to 10 mm) are left open. These holes serve as breeding tubes. Your ingress openings must be worked out clean to prevent the insects they accept. Furthermore, it is common not to drill breeding tunnels all through a piece of wood, but to leave a solid back. Some species are only in tubes already seasoned, " graying " of wood. Special niches for certain insect groups need more attention, so, for example, Florfliegenkästen often painted with red paint, because this attracts the animals. There are gaps between the different filling materials, these are best filled with hay, bundled sticks, small stones or clay. So no point in compartments remains unused, and Durchzugsauskühlung individual elements in winter is greatly reduced.

Siting

The ideal location for an insect hotel is both full sun and protected from the weather. This is on the one hand ensures that the heat required for the brood is present, on the other hand is adequate protection against wind and precipitation exist, so that the insects take the artificial quarters. A side effect is that the built in natural materials hold out as long as possible.

Furthermore, should in relative proximity as many herbs, floriferous wild plants and native shrubs and trees appear to cover the nutritional requirements of insects. The approach path for the animals should be due to the weather side facing away and be clearly visible to the animals. It is ideal for some types also if sufficient clay, sand and water is available either in one of the compartments or near the ground.