The short version: An insect hotel gives some solitary native bees a place to raise their young. It helps most when the holes and stems suit the bees, it sits in a dry, sheltered spot with morning sun, and the garden offers flowers and is free of broad-spectrum sprays. A tube sealed with mud, leaf or resin may still hold developing bees, so leave sealed nests alone until the bees have come out, and add fresh nesting material nearby instead. A few small, well-kept hotels are better than one big neglected one.
On this page:
- Who an insect hotel is for
- Why it is worth doing
- How to build one that bees will use
- Where to put it
- Looking after it without harming the bees
- The part that really matters: food
- Insect hotels across Australia's climate zones
- Frequently asked questions
Insect hotels have become a popular garden feature, and a well-made one can give cavity-nesting native bees somewhere to nest. A neglected one can build up mites, mould and parasites.
The hotel is also only half the job. Without flowers to feed them, the bees have no reason to stay.
Who an insect hotel is for
A bee hotel mainly suits solitary bees that nest in ready-made holes. Resin bees and leafcutter bees, for example, use hollow tubes or drilled holes. Reed bees are different: they dig their nests into the soft pith of dead, broken stems, so they need pithy stems rather than hollow tubes.
Some well-known bees will not use a tube hotel at all. Blue-banded bees dig their nest burrows into clay banks and soft mortar, so a patch of bare clay or a purpose-made clay nesting block suits them better than tubes. European honeybees live in large colonies and do not use bee hotels either.
Other insects sometimes move into a hotel, but a bee hotel is built for bees. Treat any shelter it gives to pest-eating insects as a bonus, not the reason to build one.
Why it is worth doing
Native bees pollinate many garden plants, and some, like the blue-banded bee, can buzz-pollinate flowers such as tomatoes, which honeybees cannot do. The garden that feeds them also feeds pest predators such as ladybird and lacewing larvae, covered in our guide to the beneficial bug mix.
How to build one that bees will use
- Offer a range of hole sizes. Aussie Bee suggests holes of 3 to 10 millimetres wide and 100 to 150 millimetres deep in untreated hardwood blocks. Bamboo cavities vary more in size, but native bees rarely use holes wider than 10 millimetres.
- Make holes smooth and closed at the back. Clean, smooth holes with one closed end suit tube-nesting bees. Cut bamboo just behind a node so the node closes the back. Use untreated timber, not chemically treated wood, varnish or paint.
- Add pithy stems for reed bees. Cut dead pithy stems into lengths of about 20 centimetres and tie them in tight bundles with the cut ends facing out.
- Try a clay block for blue-banded bees. Aussie Bee describes packing clay soil into short lengths of plastic downpipe and setting them in groups, as a nesting site for bees that dig rather than use tubes.
- Give it a roof. A waterproof overhang keeps rain out of the holes and stems.
- Leave some bare ground nearby. Many native bees nest in the ground, so a patch of undisturbed soil helps bees that a hotel cannot.
Where to put it
Place the hotel somewhere sheltered from strong wind and driving rain, with morning sun, which in Australia usually means facing north to east. Fix it firmly to a post or wall so it does not swing, keep it off the damp ground, and put it near flowering plants. A shallow dish of water with pebbles to land on gives bees a safe place to drink.
Looking after it without harming the bees
A tube or hole plugged with mud, chewed leaf or resin is a nest, and the young bees inside can take months to develop. Do not open, clean or throw out sealed tubes, blocks or stems that may still be occupied.
- Add fresh nesting material rather than cleaning out the old. Put new tubes, blocks or stems out nearby so bees have clean places to nest while the old nests finish.
- Use an emergence box for old nests. To retire occupied blocks or tubes, Aussie Bee describes placing them in early spring in a cardboard box with a single exit hole facing the light, so the bees can still leave. Once they are out, the holes can be cleaned with a pipe cleaner. Paper liners that you replace after the bees emerge are another option.
- Replace empty sections that are mouldy or damaged, and retire the whole hotel once most of it is worn out.
- Keep hotels small. A giant permanent hotel concentrates parasites and disease in one place. Several small, scattered hotels are easier to look after.
The part that really matters: food
An insect hotel only helps if there is food nearby, which means a supply of nectar and pollen through as much of the year as possible. Plant a diversity of flowers, so there is usually something in bloom, and avoid broad-spectrum insecticides, which can harm the very insects you are trying to house. Some flowers feed pest predators too: a review of habitat management in Australian vegetable growing found that flowering sweet alyssum and dill can increase beneficial insects such as hoverflies and ladybirds. Our guide to a pollinator garden covers what to plant. Without that, a hotel is just an empty building.
Insect hotels across Australia's climate zones
The build is much the same everywhere. What changes is how much shelter from heat and rain the hotel needs. These zones are broad groupings, so if your garden sits between two, go by your local conditions.
- Tropical (far north Queensland, the Northern Territory Top End, the Kimberley in Western Australia): shade it from hot afternoon sun, protect it from wet-season downpours, and keep water available.
- Subtropical (south-east Queensland, northern New South Wales): shelter it from heavy summer storms and driving rain.
- Arid and semi-arid (inland New South Wales and Queensland, inland South Australia and Western Australia, central Northern Territory): add afternoon shade and provide reliable water in the heat.
- Temperate (coastal New South Wales, the ACT, much of Victoria, south-east South Australia): a north-to-east aspect with morning sun suits most gardens.
- Mediterranean (Perth and south-west Western Australia, Adelaide and southern South Australia): provide reliable water through the dry summer.
- Cool and alpine (Tasmania, southern and highland Victoria, the New South Wales and ACT tablelands and alpine areas): position it to catch as much morning warmth as possible.
Frequently asked questions
What lives in an insect hotel?
Mainly solitary native bees that nest in holes or pithy stems, such as resin, leafcutter and reed bees. Not honeybees, and not ground-nesting bees such as the blue-banded bee.
Should I open or clean sealed tubes?
No. A sealed tube usually holds developing bees. Leave it alone, add fresh nesting material nearby, and only retire old material once the bees have come out.
Do native bees sting?
Most are gentle and not aggressive. Australia's stingless bees cannot sting at all, others can but rarely do, and the males cannot sting.
Where should I put it?
Somewhere sheltered with morning sun, usually facing north to east, firmly fixed and off the ground, near flowers and water.
Will a hotel fix my aphid problem?
No. A bee hotel is habitat for bees. Flowering plants and avoiding broad-spectrum sprays do more to support the predators that eat aphids.
Will honeybees use it?
No. European honeybees live in colonies, so they do not use bee hotels.
Build it well, leave the sealed nests alone, and surround it with flowers, and an insect hotel can become a real home for native bees.
Sources we checked
Written by the Happy Valley Seeds team. Last reviewed on 18 September 2026. We checked the main facts in this guide against these sources:
- Aussie Bee: Bee hotel guide: building tips
- Aussie Bee: Bee hotel guide: pests and parasites
- Rizvi and others (2022), Austral Entomology: Prospects for habitat management to suppress vegetable pests in Australia
Related growing guides
Ready to feed the bees? Browse our flower seeds for nectar and pollen through the seasons, and our herb seeds, many of which bees visit when they flower.