Summary
After telling you about the best mosquito repellent lamps to get rid of them, today we will give you our opinions on hotels to attract insects!
Nothing better than a shelter for our little friends to keep a balanced ecosystem in our garden. Pollination, reproduction, biological control of parasites… These hotels have many advantages, and are beneficial in promoting the diversity of Mother Nature’s fauna and flora.
There are all kinds of insect hotels, for different species and uses. To guide you and help you to choose the insect nesting box best suited to your garden and your needs, we have carried out a comparative study, so that you can find the insect hotel with the best value for money, thanks to our testers and their opinions!
Bug hotel: our top 3
Atmosphera – Insect House in Natural Wood and Bamboo
Relaxdays – Colourful Insect Hanging House
Royal Gardineer – Insect Hotel
🏆 Current bug hotel’s bestseller :
What’s a bug hotel?
An insect hotel follows the same principle as a birdhouse, but for insects. These small wooden constructions aim to provide them with shelter that corresponds to their natural habitat, while protecting them from cold and predators. In addition to being appreciated by our little flying inhabitants, these hotels help preserve biodiversity in our gardens and recreate small natural ecosystems to preserve Mother Nature by protecting these useful insects!
There are many different types of nesting boxes to suit the size of your garden and your desires. More or less large, they can be hung from trees or planted in the ground, with one or more compartments depending on the number of different species you wish to shelter.
How to choose your insect shelter?
Before investing in an insect hotel, it is important to analyze certain points to buy the product that will suit you best.
Insect species
Depending on the species you wish to house in your garden, you will be able to discover different models of nesting boxes. Each insect has its own preferences for feeling good in its nest: some prefer small warm spaces, others prefer straw, bamboo, bark or wood. Insect hotels best reproduce the preferred habitat of each beneficial insect to ensure that they are attracted. Depending on the number and type of species you want, you will have to choose models that are suitable for only one species or with specific compartments for each small animal.
The place
Where you will place your hotel is also very important. Garden, balcony, it will be necessary to choose a model with a size and use that corresponds. For the balconies, there are small nesting boxes, to hang or to pose. For the gardens, you can find shelters of varying sizes depending on your preferences, to be planted in the ground or hung from trees.
DIY?
If you’re a DIY enthusiast, you can opt for an insect hut to build, with complete kits. You will all find what you need to build your shelter, and share this fun activity with the whole family! The children will be happy to build their own little insect hut and watch nature take its place. For the less do-it-yourselfers, you’ll find your happiness already built, all you have to do is install it!
Best insect hotel: our opinions
Here is our selection of the best insect hotels among the most appreciated on the market. We have compared the different small houses to help you choose the model that suits you best.
Deuba – XXL Insect Hotel made of natural wood
This 4-star insect hotel will delight your little ones in the garden! To be placed in the middle of your flowers or against a wall, this shelter is ideal for nesting and wintering small animals. With its 6 compartments, it can accommodate many species: butterflies, ladybirds, wasps and bees. This will free your garden from aphids and promote pollination for a very good value for money. These different rooms filled with pine cones, fir, bamboo and bark will quickly attract small flying tenants. Its natural design will blend discreetly into your garden!
Atmosphera – Insect House in Natural Wood and Bamboo
This small wooden and bamboo insect shed can fit all your spaces! To hang on a wall, on a branch or on your balcony, this hotel will attract butterflies, bees, ladybirds or earwigs. With these 4 floors and its different rooms made of various materials, your small occupants will be protected from predators, especially birds, thanks to the grids that prevent them from attacking the compartments.
On the other hand, this little house may seem a little fragile. Since its price is rather low, you should not expect it to be rock solid, it can quickly deteriorate if it is too exposed to the rain. Moreover, the colour of the roof can vary depending on the production, and you can’t choose it when ordering… but if you don’t like the colour, a brushstroke and it’s done!
See on Amazon
Wildlife World – Beetle Tour
This small nest specially designed for our ladybird friends can be placed on the ground or planted using a wooden screw foot. Beautifully decorated with small ladybirds, this wooden tower is composed of several small holes that lead to a room reproducing the natural habitat of the beasts so that they feel at home. Its natural appearance blends in perfectly with the plants. If you have flowers, an orchard or a vegetable garden, we advise you to place the tower close by, so that the ladybirds can go and bite your aphids in the blink of an eye!
Relaxdays – Colourful Insect Hanging House
This hanging nesting box will become the favourite haunt of butterflies, bees and ladybirds. Its small size and its hook allows you to hang it on a balcony or in a garden, to protect nature whatever your space! Available in orange or blue, this insect house has 6 compartments filled with straw, bamboo and wood to allow the various species to nest safely, protected from predatory species by a small grid. Very nice and appreciated by small animals, we recommend this small hotel of very good quality.
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Royal Gardineer – Insect Hotel
This small hotel for insects made of fir wood is very practical due to its small size. To hang or to put wherever you want, these 5 compartments lined with bamboo, wood slices and shavings will attract bees, butterflies, wasps, lacewings and ladybirds. A real little ecosystem! Surprisingly, the value for money is assured: an efficient product despite its low price. Your flying tenants will be delighted and will be able to land safely in this natural environment.
Relaxdays – Natural insect hotel size L
If the price of this insect hut is higher than the others, it is not without reason! Very solid, with beautiful finishes, and perfectly integrated into the decor, this hotel will make many happy. With the help of 2 stakes to screw under the nesting box, you just have to plant it in the soil of your garden and wait for the visitors. Composed of 6 compartments filled with pine cones, bamboo and bits of wood of all kinds, bees, butterflies and ladybirds will take refuge in their new home without further delay. We highly recommend this product, which will delight more than one!
See on Amazon
Luxus – Children’s Insect Hotel Kit to Build and Paint
Educational, fun and environmentally friendly, this small insect hotel is the perfect gift for your cherubs! This house to be built is an activity that will allow your children to have fun and tinker, while contributing to the preservation of nature and its occupants. The assembly kit comes with wood glue (no nails or screws to avoid the risk of injury), and paint so your toddlers can customize their creation as they wish! To be placed or hung in the garden, your little ones will be able to observe the occupants of their construction, and congratulate themselves for having contributed to biodiversity and its protection.
Why build a bug hotel?
These shelters for our little flying friends allow you to make a small gesture for the planet and contribute to the protection of the environment. These refuges promote biodiversity in our gardens and can accommodate many species of auxiliary insects: ladybirds, pollinating insects, butterflies, earwigs, beetles, carabid beetles etc. These different species are essential to the ecosystem of our gardens, and are precious allies of gardeners in protecting plants against aphids, without using pesticides and insecticides. This small structure allows adults and children alike to observe nature, and to realize the importance and richness that these little flying creatures have to offer!
Pollinator species such as bees, bumblebees or osmies, which are gardeners’ friends, will play an important part in the flowering of your garden and will be a valuable asset, especially if you have a vegetable garden or fruit trees.
These constructions have many advantages, and help to preserve local wildlife and protect beneficial insects, which will take care of the pests for you. There is also a real pedagogical contribution: your children will be happy to take care of this small shelter, and will become aware of the joys of nature, all while bringing a little life to your garden!
Which habitat for which insect?
Each insect has its own preferences for creating its own little nest and making nature a little cocoon. If you wish to build or fill your hotel by yourself, here are the components of the different habitats:
- Hardwoods (apple, oak, beech, hazelnut), bamboo or hollow stems (reed, lilac, forsythia) for wild bees and wasps
- Thin branches of maximum 5 mm diameter for butterflies
- Wood wool and straw for laces, ladybugs and earwigs.
- Fir cones for spiders and earwigs.
When do we set up our bug shelter?
To encourage a good installation of your hotel is a quick attendance of our little friends, it is ideal to set up the shelter in winter to attract the winged inhabitants and invite them to get warm! You will find small occupants as early as February, with a diversity and a population that will grow richer over time!
Where to install it?
The location of your shelter is an important criterion to take into account, to ensure the well-being and occupation of our small tenants. It is preferable to place the insect hotel to the south or southeast, facing away from the prevailing winds, and protected from the rain (under a shelter or with a waterproof roof). In order to avoid soil moisture, we recommend that you raise the shelters intended to be laid on the ground by at least 30 cm.
As for the place itself, prefer a quiet place without too much traffic so as not to scare off and disturb the insects. Also think about their needs: the place must have enough resources for your small animals to feed!
Best insect hotels: why trust us?
Thank you for reading this article! Because we know that it is not always easy to make the best choice without trying, each of our recommendations is the result of a long work of analysis of consumer opinions on flagship and little-known products on the market, of comparison of prices and technical characteristics, but also and above all of tests by a team of men and women constantly renewed in order to keep a real objectivity to help you in your purchasing process.
All the purchasing criteria are scrutinized for the realization of our comparative guides: budget, level of range, functional and practical aspects, design, pack and accessories, safety… All this in order to help you choose the products best suited to your needs, desires and constraints on a daily basis, at the best price!
