How to make a house for insects in the country. Do-it-yourself house for beneficial insects

The frog house is simple, inexpensive and fun to add to any garden or yard. Children will be happy to take part in the painting and placement of the house, in addition, this is a good opportunity to introduce the child to caring for the environment.

Tell the children about frogs.

Frogs in your garden can be your best friends. The main food of frogs and toads are insects, most often pests. The moor frog prefers spiders and cycads most of all, the grass frog prefers slugs and grasshoppers, the gray toad prefers beetles and ants, the green toad prefers bedbugs. They also devour bears, weevils, wireworms, Colorado potato beetle larvae, caterpillars and other pests. Jumping frogs prey on flying insects, including mosquitoes and butterflies. Young frogs and toads feed on aphids, raspberry beetles, mosquitoes, and weevils.

On average, a frog eats 1-2 g of food per day, a toad - up to 8 g. The number of harmful insect species destroyed by frogs and toads is 2-3 times higher than that of insectivorous birds, since they feed on insects with an unpleasant odor and protective coloring. They hunt at night when the birds are sleeping and destroy nocturnal pests.

At the same time, frogs and toads themselves are tasty prey for larger animals and fish in the water, fish and snakes destroy eggs and tadpoles. On land they are eaten by birds and almost all kinds of mammals, including hedgehogs, minks, otters, foxes, badgers, owls, rooks, raccoons, snakes, vipers, herons, gulls, cranes, rodents.

You will need

Terracotta flower pots, new or old

Non-toxic paints

Trowel (shovel)

Description of work

1. Wash and dry the pot.

2. Paint your pot (preferably with a muted color - green, for example), not forgetting the bottom of the pot. Draw leaves or flowers - it will be a great decoration.

3. Find a place to place the frog house. The place should be sufficiently shady and located in close proximity to a garden or lawn where frogs can find food.

4. With a trowel (shovel), dig a hole the size of your pot.

5 Place the pot on its side in the hole and fill it halfway with earth, leaving some room for the toads, but enough for them to pass through. Keep in mind that toads prefer dark, damp places, and openings that are too large are not attractive to them.

6. Make sure there is dirt in the house. The toads sit around during the day and there is nothing better than real mud. Add water if necessary.

If you have frogs in your yard, chances are they have already found a source of water for themselves.

By adding water near the frog house, you can increase your chances of making the house successful.

Take the saucer from the flower pot and place it near the house. The saucer should be small enough for the toad to easily jump into it. Keep it constantly filled with fresh water - this can be entrusted to children.

Sign "Welcome!" greet new friends with a fun sign made from a popsicle stick and paper or cardboard, on which write "Frog House" with a marker (you can tape the sign over the sign)

The best time to attract frogs is early summer.

"Hotel" for insects

The middle of summer has come and it's time to think about saving those who help us fight garden pests - about beneficial insects and help them spend the winter in their personal "hotel"-house. Besides, the insect house will make your garden more interesting. And the children will be very interested in watching the house!

You will need:

Rack from boards with compartments

Rabitz

For filling:

Clay pots and shards

Hollow branches (bamboo)

Corrugated cardboard

small logs

This is probably what you will ask when you hear such a combination, and you will be even more surprised if you learn that "insect houses" and "insect hotels" are not only children's fun, but adults also do it. Why are such houses needed on the site?

This “invention” is now especially popular with gardeners in Europe: such “birdhouses”, not only for birds, but for insects, are made as full-fledged art objects and decorate the garden by themselves. In addition, the "hotels" for insects shown in these pictures are too high above the ground. In our climate, in order for insects to settle into rooms and overwinter with the onset of cold weather, it is necessary that it be covered under a layer of snow.

You probably know that in addition to their importunity, insects (not all, but there are many) help get rid of garden pests. If everything is clear with bees, wasps and bumblebees - who, if not they, are doing all this gigantic work of pollinating flowers? - then the six other workers and fighters of the garden look like this:

Such a neighborhood, as we see, will be very desirable - why not invite them to winter safely, so that in the spring they rush with renewed vigor into the battle with garden pests?

The basic principles of creating a house for insects are extremely simple - even easier than making a birdhouse.

1) it is necessary to create protection from wind, moisture and, in fact, cold - recesses that you will drill in wood, and the width of the dwelling itself must be deep enough not to freeze in winter;

2) when creating a house, do not use coniferous wood and synthetic materials, as well as fiberboard, chipboard - materials obtained by pressing sawdust and glue;

3) if “rooms” with filler are provided in the house, do not use foliage: mold and other harmful fungi can settle on it, which the inhabitants of the hotel will spread throughout the site;

4) all elements must be securely fixed: in this way you will strengthen the structure and create additional protection from birds that will gladly feast on the inhabitants of the "nest".

Branches, bricks with pores and voids, bark, straw or hay, moss, hollow tubes of dry plants, pebbles, ceramics, wood logs, branches and other similar things are suitable as elements.

Can, in addition to beneficial insects, pests settle in the house? Hardly: how will they get along with their natural enemies?

Insect house- This is a special refuge for beneficial insects that will protect your garden from pests. Such a peculiar « hotel» for insectsallows insects to breed in winter to ensure pollination of the garden later.

A similar insect house is a fun and educational project for a child, as well as a helper in your garden. The house perfectly attracts good insects that prey on bad ones and, thereby, clearing the garden of pests. At the same time, the child will thus get acquainted with useful tiny inhabitants, without which living plants simply cannot survive.

Involve your child in such a project and you will see how interesting such a thing will be for him. In addition, finding the right parts for the insect house helps to clean up the backyard, which is very useful.

To make a house for insects, you will need:

• wooden box with compartments;
• hot glue gun;
• PVA glue;
• materials for bugs: scraps of newspapers, sticks, bark, pebbles, leaves, dried flowers, straw, yarn, burlap, wool.

How to make a house for insects with your own hands

Step 1. Send the child along with friends or go together in search of everything that insects need: sticks, bark, pebbles, leaves, straw.

Step 2 Gather all the materials and cut/tear them into smaller pieces so that they fit well in the compartments of the future insect house.

Step 3 Try on if all the materials fit into the compartments of the drawer before gluing them.

Step 4 Pour a layer of PVA glue into each compartment of the box and glue the finds. For heavier items like , use hot glue.

Step 5 Continue to fill the insect house until you fill all the compartments.

Step 6 Let the house dry for a few days.

When the insect house is dry, hang it up and wait for the "guests"! Of course, it is recommended to hang it away from doors or windows so as not to attract visitors to the house. It is best to place a cottage near a garden so that pollinators like bees and pest controllers like ladybugs or earwigs “populate” in it.

1. Do not add leftover food or nuts/acorns to the house unless you want to attract entire families of flies.
2. If the house is located somewhere in the open air, where it can get wet in snow or rain at any time, do not forget to cover the box with impregnation so that it does not deteriorate.
3. From time to time check how things are going in the house. Most importantly, keep your fingers out of the compartments of the box in case unfriendly "visitors" such as bees, wasps and spiders fit into this category.

This DIY insect house project will help your child learn how important bugs are in gardening. By “populating” the guests, you can tell the child about what function each of them performs in nature. Let this project bring pleasure to you and your little naturalist!

Pest control takes a lot of time and effort. Try to go the other way and attract beneficial insects to the site! Not everyone knows that seemingly harmless ladybugs are actually voracious predators that exterminate aphids. Both adults and larvae have a good appetite.

Where is your home?

For the summer period, insects do not need housing. But to spend the winter, you need a shelter. Purpose-built houses will help insects survive the cold and stay in your garden. Houses can be of any shape and size. Some are intended only for one type of insect, others are a real "hostel". Tiny, birdhouse-like houses are not suitable for a real wintering of insects, but they can decorate the garden. For a full-fledged shelter for the winter, a more impressive building is needed.

With all conviniences

The basis of the house for insects is a wooden frame, divided into sections. You can not even knock down the box, but simply stack the boards, layering them with bricks and logs, or put wooden pallets from under building materials on top of each other. Having prepared the basis, proceed to its filling.

In nature, insects seek out secluded places for wintering among leaf litter, under the bark of dry trees, in woodpiles. To mimic natural conditions, sections of the house are filled with stems of dry plants, pieces of bark, cones, straw, large shavings, wood chips and even corrugated cardboard. The material should not hang freely, but it should not be stuffed tightly either - the main thing is to leave gaps where insects could hide. To prevent the contents of the house from falling out, it is fixed with a large mesh. The building is protected from rain by a roof.

To each his own

Logs with holes drilled are for ladybugs. Trellised boxes with bark will be chosen by wintering butterflies. Solitary bees and small wasps will gladly settle in hollow bricks. In the hollow stems of plants, they willingly lay their eggs. The dwelling for hoverflies and lacewings may look different, but hay is always put inside. Clay pots with straw will be appreciated by earwigs (once the aphids have been eaten, the pots will need to be removed).

House for BEETLE

1. Knock down the frame for the house from the boards - a box with several partitions for different "stuffing".

The ladybug is a useful insect for the gardener because it can eat about 5,000 aphids in its short life. Attentive gardeners have noticed that it turns out that ladybugs hibernate in shelters of cracks in the bark of trees, in fallen leaves, all kinds of holes where they can warm up. and the birds will not be able to reach them with their beaks. Preservation of wildlife is the main priority in environmental ecology. A person can help save the life of even such tiny creatures as ladybugs. Let's build a ladybug's house in our garden, involving the whole family in the creative process. Here you have another method of environmental education of younger students - do-it-yourself crafts.
Ecohouse for a small resident
I found the idea of ​​\u200b\u200bcreating a house in the magazine "Landscape. Favorite cottage" in the section Garden workshop / flower bed. I will share with you unique tips from the country edition. The house will also decorate your landscape design in the garden. For a 20x30 house, we need the following environmental items:
pine or spruce block
1 young
1 sedum
2 ivy
Chump - a dead tree is very important for wildlife, it gives shelter to many insects. Pick up a part of an even trunk with preserved bark with a diameter of at least 20 cm. Pine or spruce is best because they rot more slowly, are the most even and round. Of all types of wood, pine and spruce have healing environmental properties. Young are rosettes of colorful leaves in bright yellow, green, purple, orange and brown shades of the plant. Their uniqueness lies in the fact that they do not lose their attractiveness in winter and retain their properties of a "warm place". Various forms and varieties of youth give a wave of fantasy and imagination for creativity. Ivy is a plant that will provide a pleasant neighborhood for other types of plants, as its foliage will maintain the necessary humidity and hide the ugly imperfections of your craft. Ivy will add extra charm to the chump and ladybugs will rejoice. Stonecrop is an ornamental plant with creeping shoots. They tolerate a lack of moisture and are undemanding to the soil. A variety of its shapes and colors will allow you to decorate in various variations and create a unique composition.
We build with our own hands
Stage 1. Let dad drill holes all over the surface of the saw cut of different depths and diameters in different directions. Let the holes intersect inside the wood. The resulting labyrinths like ladybugs. Stage 2. On the surface of the block, you need to make a recess for planting plants. Again, have dad lay the log on its side and drill a few holes of the largest diameter. Using a hammer and chisel, you need to chip off a piece of wood, thereby connecting the holes together. Thus, a recess is obtained for planting compositions from existing plants. Don't forget to drill drainage holes. Stage 3. Difficult physical work is over, mom is joining. Now you need to fill the hole with compost soil, not forgetting that you also need to plant plants. Stage 4. Plant stonecrops and juveniles at the very top, they will grow well in such soil. Place climbing plants around the edges so that they cover the bark. Stage 5 Water the flora of the house and put it in the prepared place in the garden. Stage 6 Now connect your child to an exciting activity. Find a ladybug together and plant it in a house.
Decoration of the house in the form of young and climbing plants can not be done, this is so, for design. It is enough to drill holes, you can nail the "Roof" on top, or you can leave it like that. The main thing is housing!

That's all. A house made with a soul will protect a ladybug and other settled insects from the cold. And we will show children by example how to take care of animals.

Ladybugs hibernate under the bark of trees.

And some ladybugs hibernate in the refrigerator.

Yes, yes, you heard right. Some gardeners collect ladybugs wherever possible in the fall, store them dormant in the refrigerator. And in the spring they release them into their garden so that they eat aphids.

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Houses for ladybugs and other beneficial insects of our summer cottages - of extraordinary beauty! It's also easy to do it yourself. Look! this is a site of ladybug lovers, it turns out there are such.