Remember that hose the car ran over – and sprang a leak? It could have new life as a home for solitary bees. Look at the example above from St Fagans, the National History Museum in South Wales.

St Fagans is an interesting visit: part Welsh pioneer village with heritage buildings and gardens; part teaching garden and nature conservatory; part Welsh “Casa Loma” (not that Wales needs fake castles), with beautiful traditional gardens. I’ll post on those gardens separately, as an intro to a series I’m planning on Canada’s own castles.

Back to the bees: this model couldn’t be simpler. Cut the old hose in rough lengths and wedge them into an old biscuit box. If you wanted to be fancier, you could spray paint the tin first. Or use a smaller tin and lengths of bamboo. An easy project for you and the kids. And the bees.