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[Laser cut and engrave] House Shaped Wall Hanging with Floral Cutout Detail — Project made with xTool P2S machine for Laser cut and engrave.

Save the Bees! - House shaped insect hotel- wit bird protection

Instruction

Insect Hotel Maker Marieke

.xs

Application scenario

Laser processing

Machine & module

xTool P2S

55W

Material used

8 mm plywood

3 mm plywood

393

Information

      Save the bees! Bees are essential for global food security, and a bee hotel directly supports their survival.

Why Bees Are So Important?
Food Supply: They pollinate one-third of our food.
Crop Variety: They ensure we have fruits and vegetables.
Wild Plants: They maintain wild plant reproduction cycles.
Biodiversity: They support entire ecosystems and wildlife habitats.
Economic Value: They provide billions in free agricultural labor.

Why You Should Build a Bee Hotel?
Habitat Loss: Urban sprawl destroys natural nesting sites.
Solitary Support: Most bee species do not live in hives.S
afe Shelter: Hotels protect them from harsh weather.
Predator Shield: Tunnels offer safety from hungry birds.
Local Garden Boost: More bees mean better backyard harvests.

#1PercentMakerChallenge
https://www.facebook.com/groups/993191685203214/?locale=nl_NL

Instruction

Step1

Preview

Collect material - I think i used about 8 x 8mm sheets of plywood and 2 of 3 mm plywood.

Best for bees would be uncoted, natural wood. - something sturdy for the outside.

Optional is lasered sheets for the filling- same story, natural wood, depending on the bee. Some prefer softer wood.

Laser cut the red with 8 mm sheets.

Engrave - score - Laser cut the 3 mm. engraving is optional.

All the black letters should be ignored. Simplyselect the black color at the bottom and deselect output.

Assemble all the parts acordingly. Glue toghether for extra sturdiness

Step2

Preview

The 3 mm sheet with the flowers is to hold back birds.. because they love bees.

Step3

Preview

Fill the holes with natural wood, or if you don't have this, you can laser it.

You do need a lot of sheets, to make depth. Glue them stacked together to make a hole of atleast 10 cm.

If you want natural material, even better. drill holes, cut bamboo, brances, reed to size and put in tightly.

Every size hole gives access to a different bee, look up the bees in your country / surroundings.

A little bit of inspiration

The specific hole diameters needed match the sizes of the different native bee species:

2 mm – 4 mm: Ideal for the small Scissor bee (Chelostoma).
4 mm – 6 mm: Perfect for Red Mason bees (Osmia bicornis) and Blue Mason bees (Osmia caerulescens), which typically measure between 7 mm and 12 mm in length.
6 mm – 8 mm: Best suited for Leafcutter bees (Megachile spp.), which range from 12 mm to 18 mm long.
8 mm – 10 mm: Accommodates Resin bees and larger solitary bees (e.g., some Carpenter bees), which measure up to 15 mm

To attract a variety of solitary bees to an insect hotel, provide nesting tunnels with internal diameters ranging from 2 mm to 10 mm. You should use lengths of atleast 10 cm, making sure every tube or drilled hole has a closed, solid back end. The edges should be very smooth, to keep the bees and their fragile wings safe. A laser will do this.

Watch the material and lacque you use. Chemicals are bad for the bees and/ or might repell or kill them.

Also an important note:

Do not fill the insect hotel with a too wide variety of species homes. Some spiders use the home as a hunting area, and will kill all animals in their way.

That's why i chose to host bees and butterflies (the small stripes).

The hotel needs to be cleaned yearly, especially for the butterflies. That's why i left the roof part open.