Solitary Bees

Although not as familiar as honey bees or bumblebees, solitary bees are gentle bees that are amazingly effective pollinator. In the U.K just under 250 of the 270 species of bee are solitary bees. As the name suggests, they tend not to live in colonies. Instead, they lay their larvae in tubes, tunnels or nesting chambers. Sealing them in with enough food to last until they are ready to emerge through the seal of mud and chewed leaves as adult pollinators.

Natural habitats, for solitary bees to build nests, become harder to find in modern gardens. The addition of a solitary bee house or hotel can attract bees to your garden to nest and return year after year. The ideal site to place your solitary bee house is well above the ground in a warm, south-facing position, ideally, near plenty of nectar-rich flowers, plants and tree. To attract solitary bees into your garden, you should include flowering plants to provide nectar and pollen. Our selected range of native wildflower species is ideal for pollinating bees in our Plants for Wildlife category.

Wildlife World has been studying the solitary bee for 15 years. As a result, we have many tried and tested solitary bee habitats for you to choose from. As well as the essentials to enable you to build your bee hotels.