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Bees nests: housing for singles as well as families of 40,000

Bee-Crafted Nests and Hives

Tunnels in Wood

Carpenter bees are solitary bees notorious for building bees nests in places that are convenient for them, but may end up being part of your house. They like wood, and they bore holes - holes that can be upwards of a foot in length. Further, when carpenter bees find a nice, attractive piece of exposed wood, they fight to get a piece of this prime real estate. It is not uncommon to find several holes and accompanying tunnels in a single piece of wood - like an apartment building full of single units. Of course, many wood-based bees nests are located in trees and stumps. The goal is not destruction, it is finding an attractive place to call home.

Preventing infestations of this type include making sure your home has no exposed wood, especially in the springtime. Painting the wood is best, although not perfect - better than using a stain. Some pest control folks encourage using chemicals like borate to treat the wood - this will kill bees that start drilling holes, and this is entirely unnecessary, as bees are beneficial insects. Check out a few of the non-toxic suggestions on this page. You can also set up blocks of exposed wood on your property to attract carpenter bees. The goal here is win-win. Save your property while ensuring these bees survive to help our environment.

Holes in the Ground

Several different bees and wasps dig holes in the ground to accommodate themselves. Some of these include bumble bees, ground/digger bees, and yellow jackets. These bees tend to live in solitary fashion, but holes will appear in groups. Single dwellings, but many community members. You'll see a hole (or more likely, holes) with soil mounded around it - bee nests!

Preventing these infestations means paying attention to what they are attracted to. Logically, ground bees like easy to access soil. This means dry soil with sparse grass or top cover. If you are having problems with bees setting up house, try to either keep the soil wetter (although overusing a natural resource to combat a few weeks of busy bee time is wasteful) or try to find a thicker ground cover that can survive under your current soil conditions. If that is not possible for whatever reason, try mulching the soil.

Hanging Comb

Bees that live in colonies often build their wax comb in crevaces, from overhanging, protected material, or hanging directly from trees or rock. Natural bees nests of this sort will often appear as a wedge of raw comb.

Human-Made Hives

In the Past...

Skeps, traditional baskets made of straw or wicker, were used (and are sometimes still used in some countries) for about 2,000 years. They are not allowed in many places, including Canada, as they cannot easily be inspected for disease.

Hives Simulating Natural Environments

Both to avoid damage to homes and lawns, and to capitalize on the honey-work that some bees do, humans have tried to simulate environments created by bees.

Hives Designed as Conveniences to Humans

For those considering or engaged in beekeeping, especially on a larger scale, building homes for bees is done mostly on an economical and physically convenient basis. Construction involves creating something that can can be opened and manipulated quickly (by humans) allowing as little exposure and disruption to the bees within as possible. Most of the time, these homes take the form of boxes with lids, as can be seen on the left. Within the boxes are frames (see me building a frame on the right) that are strung with wire and inlaid with wax upon which bees can build their comb. The British Columbia government provides a guide to constructing bee hives of this sort here (opens a pdf file).

From personal experience, I don't find these types of hives all that ergonomic. The boxes, especially the deeper brood, can be incredibly heavy when they are full of honey 70 lbs or more. Not practical for kids, women, older folks and even some men. The tiny indentations on the sides of the boxes that serve as grips don't help. It is easy to get hurt, moreso if you are moving hundreds of boxes during high honey season.

There are other modern hive designs that are easier for all to use.

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