Something I saw today on PBS was a house for bees and butterflies, on Woodsmith Shop, Season 18, episode 5. This looked interesting, and I thought that anyone else that likes woodworking and gardening might find it interesting. I made that bee house a few years ago, with the holes, but I had never seen something like this, with vertical slots, for butterflies. Here's a link - the only way to see it is if you are signed in, down at the bottom, and the last two seasons are free (at least last time I downloaded any).

https://www.woodsmithshop.com/episodes/season18/1805/

Here's the butterfly house on PBS.
It's obvious why the vertical slots for the wings.

And here's an article that says butterflies don't use them.
https://georgiawildlife.com/out-my-back ... structures.

Several years ago my wife got a carpenter bee nesting house made from bamboo.
The bees only used the right size holes and neglected the rest.
I learned that carpenter bees like 1/4 inch holes and not much bigger maybe 5/16 at most.
Some of these contraptions are for the buyers eye and not for the actual use of the critter.
I just took a simple 2X4 and put a bunch of 1/4 inch holes in it and they filled up.
So let the buyer beware.

Reading the last linked article, although I encourage butterflies around the garden, I definitely wouldn't want to create new homes for wasps. We had far too many this year...

I have a house for the Mason bees. It is used every year and they do a great job at pollinating. They are little tiny bees that won't harm a fly. lol

Everything I have that has the right size holes has a carpenter bee nest in it.
Drives me nuts.
I hate to be a grump but some of the products they sell on line and in magazines for the garden and so on are equivalent to some of the stuff they used to sell in comic books.
Some not all.
The Blue butterfly house is the exact same color of the ceiling of my garage.
Dirt dobbers and wasps won't build a nest on it.
I guess they think it's the sky.

worth1 wrote: ↑Sun Nov 03, 2024 12:17 am And here's an article that says butterflies don't use them.
https://georgiawildlife.com/out-my-back ... structures.

That's good to know...so as not to waste time (and wood) on making it. After thinking about this for a while, I was wondering how they would be using this - they wouldn't be laying the eggs there, I wouldn't think, and the mature caterpillars would have to find it, in order to pupate in it, and make the cocoon.

Those leafcutter bees, which I have more of, and are more through the season, supposedly prefer slightly smaller holes than the mason bees, which like the 5/16" holes. I didn't see as many this season, but probably due to the heat, and lack of rain! It was more early on the bees were being seen going in and out of the house as much.

worth1 wrote: ↑Sun Nov 03, 2024 10:02 am Everything I have that has the right size holes has a carpenter bee nest in it.
Drives me nuts.
I hate to be a grump but some of the products they sell on line and in magazines for the garden and so on are equivalent to some of the stuff they used to sell in comic books.
Some not all.
The Blue butterfly house is the exact same color of the ceiling of my garage.
Dirt dobbers and wasps won't build a nest on it.
I guess they think it's the sky.

Don't waste your time and money on a hummingbird house. You can find a lot of them online. The problem is that hummingbirds do not ever use houses. It's just a waste of your money.

MissS wrote: ↑Sun Nov 03, 2024 4:44 pm

worth1 wrote: ↑Sun Nov 03, 2024 10:02 am Everything I have that has the right size holes has a carpenter bee nest in it.
Drives me nuts.
I hate to be a grump but some of the products they sell on line and in magazines for the garden and so on are equivalent to some of the stuff they used to sell in comic books.
Some not all.
The Blue butterfly house is the exact same color of the ceiling of my garage.
Dirt dobbers and wasps won't build a nest on it.
I guess they think it's the sky.

Don't waste your time and money on a hummingbird house. You can find a lot of them online. The problem is that hummingbirds do not ever use houses. It's just a waste of your money.

My old dog Bullet wouldn't go in the dog house I got for her.
Why would she with a nice couch to lay on.