# designing/building a bee house in the city



## abullock22 (Mar 29, 2013)

Hey guys, i posted a thread over in the main section and they pointed me to here so wanted to ask a couple of questions regarding building a bee house for orchard mason bees or similar.
The problem is I live in nyc so curious to if this project will work as Ill be honest, I very rarely see any bees let alone a group of bees anywhere in the city but would like to do something to help them thrive and that with full disclosure let me also play around with my laser cutter. 
The idea sprang from wanting to build something so my daughter will become interested in bees and how they effect the ecosystem and she can help with the design. (bear in mind ive already built a birdhouse which to this day remains unoccupied so already seems nature is against me - im hoping this will be a lot more successful).
with that all said im just wondering where to start - is there any documentation i should become familiar with regarding construction, colors I can use (i was wondering if bold colors help attract) specific heights they should be positioned as this city is a very vetical one, or any other pointers that should be taken into consideration. if i have to go guerrilla and put a bunch up sneakily in central park or the high line maybe ill do that)
I have been toying with idea for a while and now also have a few friends who are interested in taking a bee house also so might even turn this into a mini project.
Well thanks in advance for your ideas/suggestions to get this thing going


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## Hoot Owl Lane Bees (Feb 24, 2012)

Type in orchard mason bees in your search and there is a lot of info.
Jim


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## abullock22 (Mar 29, 2013)

I cant seem to find anything on colors or materials, most seem to use untreated wood, im considering something with bright color blocking, would this deter the bees - are there any studies on this?
Also does the wood have any effect on attracting bees, is one kind of wood preferred over another and is thickness a factor? Im thinking of using bamboo but cant find anything to say if its any good.
Also do you waterproof your wood once it has been built? - is there a favored brand, does the chemical smell have an effect on the bees?


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