Bug hotel

Get the kids encouraging friendly bugs to check into your garden with these five-star digs.

Make a bug hotel

You will need

Materials

An old wooden crate (make sure it’s clean from cobwebs or dust)
A piece of plywood cut to fit inside the crate
A large smooth rock
An old ceramic plant pot saucer (or a shallow dish)
Four old bricks
Lots of ‘bug friendly’ material for filling the hotel
Paintbrushes

Resene products

Resene Quick Dry
Resene Lumbersider tinted to Resene Rock Spray
Resene testpots of Resene Conifer and Resene Bright Red

What's 'bug friendly' material?

Bugs like cool dark places to live in, so we used things like old pieces of rotted wood and bark, an old terracotta pot turned upside down, corrugated cardboard, old leaves, cut bamboo canes, and dried grass and straw.

Taking care of the hotel

Check on your hotel whenever you get the chance and make sure there’s always water in the top saucer or dish so that insects can drink from it if they want. Try not to disturb the ‘bug friendly’ material (otherwise you’ll disturb the guests), but do add a little bit more from time to time if it looks like it needs it.

Instructions

How to make a bug hotel:

Step 1 Step one
Apply one coat of Resene Quick Dry to the piece of plywood and the old wooden crate and allow to dry.

Step 2 Step two
Apply one coat of Resene Quick Dry to the large smooth rock and allow to dry.

Step 3 Step three
Apply two coats of Resene Lumbersider tinted to Resene Rock Spray to the piece of plywood and the old wooden crate, allowing two hours for each coat to dry.

Step 4 Step four
Apply two coats of Resene Conifer to the large smooth rock, allowing two hours for each coat to dry.

Step 5 Step five
Paint the words ‘Bug Hotel’ onto the large smooth rock using Resene Bright Red, and allow to dry.

Step 6 Step six
Find a nice quiet shady spot in the garden and place your bug hotel in position, as shown – make sure it’s pretty level.

Step 7 Step seven
Place the four bricks in position, as shown.

Step 8 Step eight
Place the piece of plywood on top of the bricks and position the ‘Bug Hotel’ sign on the ground floor, as shown.

Step 9 Step nine
Place the plant pot saucer (or shallow dish) on the roof of the hotel and fill it with water. Add plenty of ‘bug friendly’ material to both floors of the hotel and then wait for your six-legged guests to check in.

Bug hotel

You will need

Instructions

Resene Paints Ltd – www.resene.com