If you want an epic garden, there is one sure way to get it. Invite some pollinators into your space. Mason bees are the perfect family-friendly option, and given the right habitat, these prolific pollinators can take your harvest from “meh” to mega.
Bee houses ensure they have a place to lay eggs so you can keep your bee population prospering from year to year, plus they make terrific Christmas gifts or birthday gifts for gardeners. This list features top choices for the best bee houses to attract pollinators for new or veteran beekeepers.
So many mason bee houses look like, well, houses. That’s why we’re pretty stoked about this round insect house that looks more like a tree of life. And there’s no more fitting metaphor than this bee house that can foster a hive of mason bees, shelter butterflies, and give ladybugs and other solitary bees a beautiful and safe home.
This bee house is 11 inches in diameter and it features a multi-habitat design that includes bamboo tubes for egg-laying, drilled cavities for ladybugs, a butterfly enclosure, and pinecones for even more varied living space. Made from pine, it’s 2.5 inches deep and has a metal hanging bracket attached to the back. The exterior and tree design is painted a soft moss green so it will look perfect in any natural setting and attract pollinators for an abundant garden.
When you’re looking for a cute and quaint option to attract and shelter bees and butterflies in the garden, this sizeable house gives you plenty of space for both to shelter and bees to lay eggs. It features a natural wood finish, with yellow panels in from. Bamboo tubes make an attractive place for mason bees to lay eggs, and drilled out wood tubes are a safe haven for ladybugs who prefer holes a bit smaller.
The sides of this enclose offer refuge for butterflies and they have movable doors on the back to allow for an easy escape without harming their delicate wings. At 13 inches wide and 15 inches tall, this bee hotel is four inches deep and has two drilled out hanging holes in the back so you can slide it over either screws, which we recommend, or nails.
While butterflies may rest inside your insect hotel, they won’t lay eggs there. According to the North American Butterfly Association, butterflies only lay their eggs on plants which can be eaten by the caterpillars once they hatch.
Probably the first mason bee house to hit the market was a teardrop shape like this one from KIBAGA. While it’s not suitable for attracting other bugs, this clever bee house is an affordable and easy option for your garden. Great for smaller spaces and hanging in dense tree canopies, it measures just 10 inches tall by six inches wide and four inches deep. But don’t let its small size fool you.
This mini-bee palace has about 70 high-quality bamboo nesting tubes that mason bees will love to lay eggs in. The exterior of the house is woven bamboo matting and it comes with a hanging rope. You’ll want to ensure that the house hangs in a sheltered and secure place, and to attract bees to lay their eggs, you’ll want plenty of mud and water nearby as they may lay up between five and eight eggs in each tube, with each cell being sealed off with mud before the female bee lays another.
We love anything that does double duty in the garden, and these mason bee house planters really struck our fancy. Each graduated wood box holds a generous number of fiberboard nesting tubes, has a top reservoir that comes with a fabric liner. These are perfect planters for flowers that will attract and feed your bees. A stylized bee image adorns the panel above the nesting tubes, and the angled design of this planter section helps direct rainwater away from the insects.
An opening in each fabric liner aligns with a channel on the back of the planters, allowing water to drain from your flowers and plants without reaching the bee tubes. These bee house planters measure 11 by 9 inches and stand 14 inches tall. They also come with two hangers so they can adorn a wall or stand alone on a flat surface. You could even incorporate them into your garden of raised planter boxes.
When you’re concerned about buying products made from wood, you can feel good if you know your bee house is made from wood that has been environmentally sourced or FSC Certified like this clever bee barrel. Bamboo tubes allow for egg layers to safely nest and protect their eggs. The hole sizes in this habitat are precisely specified to attract non-swarming bees like the red mason bee, leafcutter bee, and other solitary bees.
It’s just 7 inches long and 5.5 inches in diameter and the barrel features metal hoops with brass tacks to give it the appearance of a real beer or wine barrel. It hangs from a narrow rope to give it a truly vintage look. If you’re looking for a cool eco-conscious gift for someone you love, the little bee barrel would be an absolute hit.
While most mason bee houses use bamboo tubes, this clever bee pyramid uses natural elderberry branches that have been drilled out for nesting spaces. This small 9 x 9-inch house, when placed 5-7 feet above the ground can dramatically increase your garden’s yield with friendly mason bees. These little pollinators are among the friendliest of bees, per The Honeybee Conservancy. They rarely sting, which is a plus if you’ve got kids in the yard.
This wood house features a natural finish that could be painted if you desire, but you’ll want to make sure you use some kind of bee-friendly paint product. The bottom features a caged-in section with pinecones. The cracks and crevices in the cones will attract other garden-friendly bugs that can also act ask pollinators, like ladybugs who are a huge benefit in the garden.
When you’re looking to create the perfect habitat for solitary bees and bugs like mason bees, butterflies, and ladybugs, this sweet little insect hotel has everything to attract them and entertain you. It features bamboo tubes for nesting mason bees, a small wood log with holes drilled for ladybugs, a butterfly house where those beauties can rest and escape from the heat of the day, as well as two caged in areas where you can place wood shavings and pinecones to create additional habitat for helpful garden insects like lacewings, which like ladybugs feast on aphids, a curse in every garden.
This small house is 10 inches tall by 6 inches wide so it’s ideal for smaller spaces. Made from weather-resistant fir wood, it will last for years in the garden, and it has a nice metal roof as well. For a similar house with a slightly different configuration, the Lulu Home insect house is another ideal small space option.
Have you been wanting to add a bee house near your lake or mountain cabin? This rustic wood bee house has a look that fits perfectly with that sort of environment. It’s natural wood, which will gray and darken with age. It’s deeper than many at 6.75 inches, and it’s 8 inches tall by 7.8 inches wide. This sturdy little house is filled with bamboo egg-laying tubes and small drilled-out wooden logs so it’s perfect for both mason bees and ladybugs.
It features a durable hanging bracket that makes mounting super simple, and the peaked roof has a clever copper ridge cap that will develop a lovely patina over time.
When you’re looking for the kind of mason bee house that lasts, you want one that can easily be cleaned and reused year after year. This heavy duty cedar bee house is built for the long haul – with a roof that extends out to protect the insects from the weather. This professional-grade house has removable cedar trays to make annual cleaning a breeze.
Because the nesting trays are removable you can actually save the cocoons and reintroduce your colony of mason bees back into your garden year after year. This box is sizeable at 14 inches tall. The nesting grooves are about six inches deep.
While you ordinarily see mason bee houses with bamboo tubes for egg-laying, they aren’t always easy to clean and it’s hard to recapture the cocoons to reintroduce your hive of bees the following spring. This beautiful western red cedar bee house comes with 100 fiberboard nesting tubes so cleaning your bee house and preserving your bees is easy.
The design of this bee house is quite different than most as the shelter is suspended from a weather-resistant cedar bracket and it features a large roof that substantially overhangs the nesting tubes. Plastic sides hold the tubes in place so they’re easy to replace each year. The flat base and extended back on the bracket allow for easy mounting on the top or side of a fencepost, and mounting screws are included. It’s 8.25 inches wide by 9 inches tall, and 6.75 inches deep.
Why should you pay extra for cedar? According to the experts who build with both cedar and pine, cedar can actually last for up to 30 years so it’s worth the extra expense.
When you want to attract all kinds of solitary bees and bugs, this handmade wood insect hotel creates an excellent opportunity to do just that. It offers five different environments that will be perfect for a variety of beneficial insects.
At the peak of this house, a wire mesh cage holds wood shavings that are hollow and attractive to a variety of pollinators. Beneath that there is a layer of drilled-out cedarwood pieces that will appeal to ladybugs and other insects. At the center, there’s a tiny butterfly enclosure and it’s flanked on each side with bamboo tubes for nesting mason bees.
The base of this house has another wire mesh cage that holds pinecones, which offer an even more interesting habitat for bees. If you’re looking to learn more about creating bee and bug habitats, this article from HobbyFarms.com can really help you jumpstart your efforts.
One of the flaws in many bee houses is that the roof offers no overhang on the front to protect the nesting tubes from rain. This tall wooden bee tower addresses that head-on with a nice large overhang and lots and lots of quality bamboo nesting tubes. Made of natural pine, the side walls are thick and will last for years even out in the weather. It’s 12 inches tall and 4.25 inches wide with a depth of 4.5 inches. It also features larger pieces of wood inside that are cleverly adorned with whimsical wood-burned bees.
This would be a great addition to anyone’s garden or yard as the additional pollinators will make for a greater yield.
If you have room and the desire to attract more pollinators to your garden this year, this large size bug chateau from Homestead essentials is an ideal option. More than a mason bee house, it offers sanctuary for leaf cutter bees, ladybugs, butterflies, and other beneficial garden critters. The natural wood finish will look gorgeous in the garden, but you can also paint this house to give it a more quaint look if you desire.
Your bees will lay eggs in the hollow bamboo canes, while butterflies can enter and take refuge in the slot in the top section of the bee house. Ladybugs will be drawn to the small log sections with holes. And ladybugs eat a ton of garden pests, most especially aphids. You can also attract more ladybugs to your garden according to Gardening Know How if you have plenty of insects and pollen, which you can do by having lots of flowers and veggies planted.
This bug bee hotel has a hanger slot pre-drilled in the back so you can hang it from a post or tree to encourage lots of beneficial visitors to your yard.
If you’re specifically looking for insect houses that will fit well in a rustic setting, this insect hotel is the ideal place for beneficial bugs to nest and lay eggs. One thing that makes this bee house different from the rest is that it’s made from unfinished, natural pine boards that look much like the exterior of a natural tree. The look will make them a nice fit to be placed on forest trees without being obtrusive.
This bee house has a variety of cool features that can provide habitat for bees and bugs. The top of this house is a butterfly box, while the sides feature caged wood pieces and pinecones to offer shelter and nest area for other bugs. The center features a large diagonal section of bamboo tubes and mini-logs that have drill holes for egg laying and shelter.
This box is one of the biggest we’ve found at 14.75 inches tall by 8 inches wide. The box is nearly four inches deep which is ideal. Another cute option is this mini-log top insect house. It offers similar insect habitats but a very different look.
Mason bee houses come in all shapes and sizes, but for the most part, they’re pretty petite. This wooden bee house has a larger profile at 8 inches wide by 12inches tall. The exterior is flamed wood which means it’s more weather-resistant over the years. The bulk of this structure is filled with bamboo tubes where mason bees can lay their eggs, but the base of it has a bored-out a wooden block to accommodate leafcutter bees and ladybugs.
The back of this house has a pre-attached metal hanging bracket that can easily slide over a screw in a tree or wall. Simply hang it outside in the spring near a garden with flowers and herbs that are attractors for long-tongued bees. Those could be things like lavender, zinnias, daisies, and oregano, just to name a few.
