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Insect Houses / Gîtes d'insectes Insects / Les insectes

Insect House / Gîte à insectes

Now is the time to think about either buying or making a refuge for beneficial insects over the winter. Beneficial insects such as solitary bees and wasps are essential in the garden for pollination, helping to reduce the impact of the demise of the honey bee.

The pictures show the various stages of a refuge I’ve just finished building. All the materials are untreated, re-used wood, or wood that is old and well-aged.
One section is filled with hollow-stemmed plants and wood with pre-drilled holes. The vertical slot is for butterflies. The bottom section is filled with dry grasses for ladybirds and other bugs. If you have small fircones or wood shavings, these can also be used.

The Insect House has been built from entirely recycled materials.
An ideal site for the refuge is somewhere safe from predators, at about 1.5m off the ground, with sunlight in the morning and shade during the day.

Le moment est venu de penser à acheter ou à créer un refuge pour les insectes utiles au cours de l’hiver. Les insectes utiles tels que les abeilles solitaires et les guêpes sont essentiels dans le jardin pour aider les abeilles avec la pollinisation.
Les images montrent les différentes étapes d’un refuge que je viens de terminer. Tous les matériaux sont du bois non traité ou réutilisé, ou du bois ancien et bien vieilli.
Une section est remplie de plantes à tige creuse et de bois avec des trous pré-percés. La fente verticale est pour les papillons. La section inférieure est remplie d’herbes sèches pour les coccinelles et pour d’autres insectes. Si vous avez des petites pommes-de-pins ou des copeaux de bois, vous pouvez également les utiliser.
Le gîte à insectes a été construite à partir de matériaux entièrement recyclés.
Un site idéal pour le refuge est un endroit à l’abri des prédateurs, à environ 1,5 m du sol, avec la lumière du soleil le matin et à l’ombre pendant la journée.

2 replies on “Insect House / Gîte à insectes”

Very clever, what’s in the butterfly section that they like? I want to get them away from our wood store as every time I get logs in I’m worried about squashing them.

Hello Andrea,
Thanks for your comment. The butterfly slot – which is an empty, dry space – is an experiment, in theory it’s to allow an area for butterflies like Red Admirals to shelter safely over winter. However, opinions are divided as to whether it’ll work or not so I’ll report back in Spring 2020 and say if anything has used it!
If you’ve got room in your garden, you could try leaving some logs undisturbed in a sheltered area. This will attract butterflies and beneficial insects that need rotting wood to have some shelter and survive over winter.
Thanks for your interest, let me know how you get on.
Denis

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