
Definitely not for honey bees
While there are 8 honey bee species in the world, there are about 20,000 others, with 900 in Canada 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, in urban areas where resources are limited, 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. The beautiful nest you see here was created by a leafcutter bee.
Unlike many other wild bee houses and insect hotels, we created ours alongside scientists specializing in wild bees, following all currently known best practices and research.
We want these bee homes to outlive us, while still being easy to maintain. That's why we call them heirloom bee homes.

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. These bees help to pollinate plants up to a 300m radius around where they live.