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Guided by research and built to last. A timeless design that is wonderfully easy to maintain.

Our bee homes were created alongside entomologist and wild bee expert, Dr. Jessica Forrest, following all currently known best practices and research. We don't think you'll find a better home anywhere.

Each of our homes are made of the longest lasting domestic hardwood for outdoor use: white oak. They are treated with long-lasting, outdoor finishes that are safe enough to be used on children's toys. You'll have your bee home for so long you'll be passing it on to your grandchildren.

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Carefully Crafted Design

A bee home with a single nesting block partially removed

Removable, Easy to Clean Bee Blocks

Nesting blocks shown from the rear to demonstrate that they do not have rear entries.

Parasite-Resistant Nests

Instar Wild Bee Home - Scopa

Low-Density For Bee Health

A leafcutter bee nest with the top removed to reveal the entire nest

Deep Nesting Sites

Built to Last

A small can of Osmo country colour finish in blue.

Solid Oak + Safe Outdoor Finish

A bottle of Titebond 3 wood glue

Waterproof Wood Glues + Joinery

A small pile of stainless steel machine screws

Stainless Steel and Coated Hardware

A close-up of one of our nesting blocks with a viewing window

UV Resistant Rubber Bands

Instar Wild Bee Home - Scopa

Small But Mighty

Unlike a large honey bee hive, wild bee homes contain only a handful of wild, non-aggressive pollinators.

We intentionally keep the number of nesting sites in our homes small. Rather than base our design off those used in agriculture which require considerable maintenance to keep the population healthy, we based ours on the time-tested approach used by research scientists to study wild bees.

With only a handful of nesting sites, you can monitor nature without having to worry about whether mites and parasitic wasps are growing out of control.

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Definitely not for honey bees

While there are 8 honey bee species in the world, there are about 20,000 others, with over 4000 in the US alone.

Unlike honey bees - which are a domesticated European species - many of our wild bees live solitary lives, with one mother bee building a nest for her young. In addition, honey bees can actually suppress native bee populations.

Our bee homes are built specifically for those bees referred to as "cavity nesters", which usually find their homes in holes in dead wood.

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The front cover of Karl Krombein's book Trap-Nesting Wasps and Bees

A "Check Engine" Light for Your Yard

Introduced in Karl Krombein's 1967 book Trap-Nesting Wasps and Bees, nesting blocks like those in our homes have been an invaluable tool for anyone looking to house and observe some of our most critical wild pollinators.

Properly designed and placed, nesting blocks help you to understand which species of solitary, cavity-nesting bees you have, and whether their populations are healthy. If this home remains empty, it should set off alarm bells and point to a need to plant more wildflowers or other flowering plants in your yard.

In areas where we often clear dead wood and other natural sources of nesting sites, nesting blocks like ours ensure there is a base level of nesting sites for cavity-nesting bees. As a nice side-benefit, these bees help to pollinate plants up to a 300m radius around where they live.

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Learn More About Wild Bees

The book The Bees In Your Backyard is an amazing resource for both novices and experts. If you're looking to understand the native bees in your area and which things to grow to best support them, this is the perfect place to start.

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