You Will Need

  • Terracotta pot
  • Moss
  • Hay
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Total time: 15 minutes

Step 1

Adding moss to the pot
Adding moss to the pot

Take a clay pot and pop a small clump of moss from your garden over the drainage hole.

Step 2

Adding hay to the pot
Adding hay to the pot

Loosely fill the pot with hay so that the moss drops when the pot is turned over, allowing access for the bee.

Step 3

Half-burying the pot
Half-burying the pot
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Choose a warm sheltered spot, such as the foot of a hedge. Scrape away a little soil, enough to bury half the pot. Turn the pot upside down into the hole and push the soil back around it.

Kate Bradbury says

Queen bumblebees hibernate in a variety of locations, including holes in the ground. If you dig up a bumblebee in winter, don’t re-bury her – simply transfer her to a sheltered, dry spot such as a pile of dry leaves. She’ll quickly settle down again.
Kate Bradbury
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