DECORATING BEE HOTELS

Whilst on the subject of insects, I’ve been working on a project to help our multi-legged/multi-winged friends over the cold wintery months by providing them with free accommodation in the form of a ‘bee hotel’ 

Cheaper than migrant barges or conventional hotels, these Airbnb lodges for creepy crawly customers are not only providing room at the inn but helping to brighten up my otherwise plain grey fence panels.

 

Tarting up the fence panels

You don’t need to be a carpentry genius to make these for your garden.  You just need a Poundland store, a few tubes of acrylic paint and a can of spray yacht varnish for your project.

 

Bug hotels - Poundland

Our Poundland store had an ample supply of these lovely triangular bug hotels for £3 reducing the price down to £2 at the end of season.  Great!  I bought 3 to decorate and hang along the new fence. 

Here’s how you can make your own arty farty bee hotels: 

Firstly, acquire a wooden bug hotel or make one if you are good at woodwork. 

Ensuring it is free of dust or sharp splintery edges, apply 2 coats of paint to your bug hotel avoiding the front of any bamboo canes.  You don’t want to bung up the bug-rooms with great globs of paint.  I’ve used 2 coats of ‘Marseille’ blue coloured interior paint, a leftover tester pot from B&Q but whatever colour takes your fancy will do.

 

Paint up the bug hotel

As my wooden structures are triangular, I’ve decided to decorate the sloping sides with a simple floral design but here you can be as creative as you wish.  Draw your own design on to a white piece of paper the size of the area to be decorated.

 

Draw your design on paper

Take a sheet of greaseproof paper (baking kind will do), place this on top of your design template and trace the design on to it using a pencil.  It is important to use a good thickish pencil as this is how we’ll be transferring the design onto the structure. 

Once the painted bug hotel is dry, lay your greaseproof paper design onto the surface to be decorated pencil side down.  Draw over the design on the clear side of the greaseproof paper.  When you lift the sheet up, your design should have magically transferred on to the wood.  Go over any feint sections with the pencil.

 

Trace design onto area to be decorated

Using acrylic or enamel paints, build up your design by slowly painting over the traced template. 

 

Build up your design in colour layers

Remember to allow each colour to fully dry before adding shading or other detail. 

 

Add shading and detail

I found that due to the porous nature of my bug hotels, multiple coats of paint had to be added in order to build up a good depth of colour. 

 

May require multiple layers of paint

Allow layers to dry before adding extra details

The finished side panel

When you have completed your painted designs, the bee hotels can then be waterproofed so that your beautiful artwork is not damaged by rain or sun.

 

Finished and ready to varnish

I have used spray yacht varnish for this purpose.  You can buy these cans of glossy varnish either from Ebay or Amazon.  One can goes a long way so don’t go mad buying loads.

 

Perfect for waterproofing outdoor stuff

Spray yacht varnish is very smelly so pick a dry day so that you can spray up your bee hotels outside.  I wouldn’t recommend doing this indoors as the varnish vapour will get everywhere. 

 

Varnish your bee hotels outside

Following the instructions on the can, apply two good spray coats over the painted designs and any other areas exposed to the elements.  Do not spray over the bamboo canes.  Leave the first coat to fully dry overnight before applying a second one. 

When dry, your artistically decorated bee hotels will be ready to hang in the garden.  Fab!  A cheap and easy way to keep yourself amused and help nature at the same time.

Hotel open for business