School Insect Hotel Eco-Projects
School insect hotel eco-projects—initiatives where students build “hotels” (using bamboo tubes, pinecones, and wooden boxes) for solitary insects (e.g., bees, ladybugs, butterflies) and install them in school gardens—are supporting pollinators while teaching ecology. Unlike honeybee hives (which need intensive care), insect hotels provide shelter for solitary insects, which are critical for pollinating plants (70% of global crops depend on them). Schools in Oslo and Melbourne have built 50+ insect hotels, with 60% occupied by insects within 3 months. A 4th-grade class in Oslo said: “We saw bees going into the bamboo tubes—our teacher said they’re laying eggs there! Now our garden has more flowers because of the pollinators.” Students learn to build hotels from recycled materials and research which insects live in their area (e.g., “Ladybugs eat aphids, which harm our tomatoes”). They also track insect visits, keeping a “hotel guest book” with photos and notes. These projects prove tha...