Hi Iansimmo. I made one last year and it is now occupied. Check my blog insect hotel to see what it looks like, then you can probably make something similar. There are some pieces of bamboo, some branches that I have drilled holes in, some stones and a little box that I put some straw in.

Do not knock the bamboo things as you call them Ian, I have a colony of mason bees and they make their homes in special tubes, like bamboo, but I buy mine from wiggly wigglers each year, I purchase new tubes to put out April time and by mid June they are completely full of little ones due to come to life next spring, I overwinter the tubes in the garage and return them back to their usual shelf ready for the young to emerge and begin their life cycle once again, it is facinating. I have an insect hotel too but prefer to keep the bees in a separate place. Most bees die after they have laid their young cells as it is these that provide next years young ones. Most bumble bees even if given a home wont use them, not sure why, we had a bumble bee box and have chucked it away, last year bumbles nested in our compost heap which was good news, they have minds of their own when it comes to homes! Do read about mason bees on the website, they are very easy to encourage and they do all the pollinating of your fruit trees & flowers.

thanks for those responses. I will get to work on some straight away. Just one other question, this might sdound daft but, what width work best ? Obviously some bamboo just has tiny holes whole others are quite large. Does size matter !! ?

If you want to try a bumble bee house without spending money there is a site call bumblebeeconservation.org that shows how to do it with a large flower pot and a few odds and ends. I have also read that less than 3% of made houses get used so I went the flower pot root. I do have a bumble bee nest in the garden-just not in the des res I built.

thanks anns, thats a really useful site.
http://bumblebeeconservation.org/

will be making a few for the autumn / winter

Ian we can only try to do our bit, with pots etc, but the bee has a mind of its own Lol. Now size does matter, because mason bees are tiny little things, mine are no more than 1mm. wide, so tiny! Buy some tubes and have a go, you will soon be rewarded, as for bumbles well a least you can try with pots etc.