Observations
Working with schools has led me to know them each day deeper and deeper, every time I am more present in the high growth demand of driving the young students towards a sustainable life and be better connected with nature.
Not all schools have awoken this curiosity, but with the constant demanding of our services it is clear that every day more of them have a great interest and need to expand their knowledge, whilst some of them already have come a long way. Through visiting several schools each week I started to notice the elements that fit best to meet some of them needs: school gardens, composting, wormeries, living willow structures, Earth looms... and increasingly bug hotels. This last element is getting more popular in schools during the last decade, and is a very good example to learn more about the importance of the little organism and how crucial they are in bringing harmony into our lives. |
Bugs might be small but this makes them some of the easiest to accommodate and their roles in nature are essential to a healthy eco-system.
We have all recently observed that the bee population is declining rapidly in the last few years, creating a lot of interest for many of us to help to repopulate this vital insect to the survival of many of our foods and the natural habitat balance.
We have all recently observed that the bee population is declining rapidly in the last few years, creating a lot of interest for many of us to help to repopulate this vital insect to the survival of many of our foods and the natural habitat balance.
Different rooms for different guests
Each bug has different styles to create their own home, some occupy empty spaces and others can create their own, so the more diverse micro-spaces we can provide to them the more variety of bugs we will attract.
Some like to live in holes, others feel more comfortable and protected been between pieces of straw or tree bark, there are those who prefer fresh and moist that can be found in tiles, and others will look for dry spaces in cardboard holes. Some bug hotel are only for insects while others have spaces for larger creatures such as lizards, frogs, worms, etc. So depending on the species we want to attract we will have to observe what needs and preferences they have when they are looking for a home. |
We can see above the Wild Life Trust picture that illustrate some examples of different spaces that we can create to attract different type of bugs.
Different types of Bug Hotel
Below we can find some of the photos I have found on the internet, many of them are articles that talk about how they were made, or their benefits, and many other things. Below the pictures you can see the links of some of these site pages.
Pallets HotelOne of the early ideas was to organize workshops in the schools playground or near by the veg gardens, where we were provide for them all the materials and the students are those who implement and shape the hotels.
They are quite big and full of empty spaces to fill with different materials and create a big diversity of Bug guest. This is one of the most common bug hotel that you can find in in many UK´s school. |
Hotel in a frameThere are many different designs of hotels of this type but they all have more or less the same concept, creating a framework which harbors within different rooms for our smaller guests.
You can make them in many different sizes and shapes, they are practical to make and easy to transport once they are fixed together. |
Mini HotelsThey are perfect for shops, trade and transport, and very easy to place directly next to any element (plant, pond ...) that you want to benefit with the symbiosis between them and any particular insect.
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Huge HotelsUnlike the mini Hotel this it requires a lot of materials, time and space to be implemented, with the idea of siting it strategically in one fixed place.
There are many different designs of hotels of this type but they all have more or less the same concept, creating a framework which harbors within different rooms for our smaller guests.
You can make them in many different sizes and shapes, they are practical to make and easy to transport once they are fixed together. |
Others
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