This week's fun activity...
BUG HOUSES
  • Insects and other bugs are very important in the life cycles of plants. 

  • Some act as pollinators, feeding on flower nectar and helping flowers turn into seeds to reproduce. Many insects use plant parts, like leaves or roots, as their food source to survive. 

  • All insects are valuable parts of nature and our ecosystem, and just like other animals, they need food, water, and shelter to live! 

  • Plants are amazing because they provide all three of those things for our insect friends.


This week, let’s use some plants and make some bug houses for our friendly insects to live!
Materials:

  • Weatherproof open containers
Examples – Small wooden box, birdhouse with the front removed, wooden crate, mason jar, tin cans, clay pots

  • Assorted plant and natural material
Examples – sticks, bark, leaves, hollow plant stems, pine cones, dried flowers, grasses, small rocks

  • Glue
Step 1 –
Container

Find a small container that is open on one end, like a wooden box or even a tin can or clay pot.

An old birdhouse with the front removed is easily reused for bug houses.  

If your containers are small, use a few to make different houses filled with different materials!  










Tip:

You can also try cutting open a milk gallon or making cylinders from plastic bottles!
Step 2 – Material

Head outside in nature and collect some building supplies! 

  • Small twigs make a good home for ladybugs

  • Hollow stems make a good home for solitary bees (NOT wasps!)

  • Rocks make a good home for spiders.

Whatever material you grab, watch it over time to see which bugs take up residence in your  bug house

Different bugs like different materials, so try a variety!
Step 3 - Fit

Bundle up your materials tightly and, if you need to, cut them to fit inside your container. If the houses are too far out of your container, they may get too wet from the rain; bugs will not be attracted to a wet house!  
Step 4 – Pack

Pack your bundles of materials tightly   into your container. If you’re using small containers, pack   only one type of material in each one. 

Otherwise, stack and arrange your bundles all together in your larger container. If you need to, you can use glue to keep everything in place.

For sticks and hollow stems, place them so the ends are facing out of the container. You’ll be able to see which insects use your house that way.


Step 5 - Paint

When your  bug house  is packed full and ready, find a place outside for them.

You can hang them from trees or bushes, or simply place them on the ground in a sheltered spot. 

If you put them on the ground, tie them down so they don’t blow away in the wind or during storms! 

It’s also a good idea to put them on a brick or rock to keep them off of the ground.

Your  bug house  will stay a little drier that way!
Step 6 – Watch!

Keep a close eye on your  bug house  and wait for insects to move in! 

Then you'll begin to see them visiting your plants and flowers
keeping them healthy all year long.

THANK YOU FOR YOUR FBBG MEMBERSHIPS

 We are continually renewing memberships and processing new ones.

You will receive a temporary card in the mail until we are able to send out your complete membership packets.

Membership questions? Please contact  Dkoepsel@fbbg.org


You can easily purchase a membership on-line by clicking here .

THANK YOU!
We’d love to see your creativity!

Tag us on:

Facebook ( Friends of Boerner Botanical Gardens

Twitter (@FBBG)

or Instagram (friendsofbbg) 

to show off your Bug Houses or any of our weekly activities!
Please continue to watch for our weekly activities... 
fun learning for ALL ages!