Do It Yourself - Build your own insect hotel

BE[E]Kleinwalsertal has been on everyones lips since last summer and, the fact that the largest hotel in Kleinwalsertal is inhabited by more than 10,000 guests. For all those who have always wanted to be hotelier, we have here the guide to our own insect hotel.

Because recycling and sustainability is good

Sustainability is THE main topic all over the world! Also here in Kleinwalsertal - and that's good because we care a lot about our environment and the nature. Last year, the project BE[E]Kleinwalsertal got the ball rolling in order to help prevent insect extinction and thus, support the preservation of nature.

But what does that have to do with sustainability? - As part of the BE[E]Kleinwalsertal project, an insect hotel was built in the newly created wild flower garden in Hirschegg, which will be the home to over 10,000 insects in the future. And YOU can build your own DIY Insect hotel at home. A little bit smaller, of course, but we'll leave it up to you to choose the size of your new hotel.

-> Recycling comes in handy: you can use materials that you already have at home anyway, so you can recycle them and support sustainability.

For the DIY insect hotel you will need the following materials:

Cans, flowerpots made of wood (large, small, medium) -> the larger the containers, the larger the number of insect neighbours you will have
String & Tape -> There is nothing that string and tape can't hold together - together they are an unbeatable team!
Pens (thick, thin) -> for small, large, wide and narrow hotel rooms
Newspapers (old or new) -> choose the content of newspapers wisely, you never know what insects might do with that information...
Cutter-Knife -> but attention! - Only cut paper & string or ask your caregiver for help!
Scissors -> alternative to the cutter knife

4 steps to build your own insect hotel:

Cut the newspaper in a size that fits into the can or flowerpot (image 3)
Roll up the individual newspaper strips and tape them together so that it doesn't unroll (image 2)
Fill up the can or flowerpot with the newspaper rolls
Optional: you can attach a string to the can to string up the insect hotel

Voilà!