Sunday 6 November 2011

Houses for Bugs

A few years ago we were lucky enough to be given a bottle of port in a fancy wooden box. The port didn't last long (it was very nice) but what to do with the wooden case?


A bug house of course!


Being extra thrifty I only used garden canes that were splitting & at the very end of their useful life. The rest of the tubes were made up with prunings from the garden (sunflower stems proved especially good- the sunflower heads were hung up for the birds to feast on)


13 comments:

Karen S Booth said...

YES! I am thrifty too and this is a GREAT idea! We use our old French Wine Boxes for drawers in the pantry, for all my baking stuff and spices.
Great post!
Karen

noknittedknickers said...

I was slightly worried when I saw the title of this post that you were going to tell us you'd inadvertently brought bedbugs into the Thrifty Household. New York is riddled with them and I have nightmares that they will arrive with our shipment. Glad to see that the TH is occupied with bugs of a different kind... C.x

Mrs. Micawber said...

I've never heard of a bug house. Do they use it? It's very picturesque.

Thrifty Household said...

Thankfully no bed bugs in the house- I'm shuddering at the thought!
We do have quite a lot of masonary bees that use the brickwork in our garden walls so the main idea was to divert them into a ready made housing complex. I've seen ladybirds using it & spiders & some unidentified tiny beetles...

Annie Cholewa said...

Brilliant! The gardens at Norton Priory are festooned with these, and it is the most delightfully bug and bee and butterfly filled garden I have ever been in.

Anonymous said...

What an excellent use of both box and old bamboo canes. The classy port container has been transformed into a rather classy high-rise apartment for bees.

silverpebble said...

I love this - it's beautiful and thrifty. Having seen you in the process of cutting all those stalks to size I admire your dedication.

Julie said...

I've often wanted to make one of these- will have to find a substitute for a port box tho' (it wouldn't last long around here either...maybe a bg house would be an excuse to buy some?!). Its good to knwo you can use things other than pea canes. Juliex

Anonymous said...

Great idea - and a good reminder of a good bottle of port!

harmony and rosie said...

We have a lot of ladybirds in our house at the moment, but we also have a ladybird house in the garden. You've just reminded me I should take them out there and see what they make of it?!

dottycookie said...

We did something similar by stuffing the spaces in the pallet which we use foor storing logs with old canes, hay and so on last year. I was slightly less thrilled to open up the log pile this autumn and discover most of our supplies had been used as mouse nests ;-)

Anonymous said...

Hello Thrifthousehold. What a lovely idea. Just came across your site via The Zero Waste Home. Lots of lovely stuff to read and do here!
Best Wishes

Anonymous said...

Just found you through Anne,Your bug hotel is a great idea.I was wondering what to do with my fried out sunflower stalks.take care,julie.xxx

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