Insects may be small, but they play a vital role in animal survival and in keeping our planet healthy. Insects pollinate plants, provide food and help break down waste. Without them, food chains and ecosystems would break down. Building an insect hotel is a great way to support local biodiversity, especially in towns or areas without many natural habitats for insects.
Why are insects important?
- Insects pollinate plants, so flowers, fruit and vegetables can grow, and humans and other animals have food to eat.
- Some insects make useful products for humans such as honey from bees and silk from silkworms.
- They are a food source for animals such as birds, fish, reptiles and small mammals.
- Decomposing insects such as maggots and dung beetles break down leaves, animal waste and dead organisms, releasing nutrients back into the soil.
- Some insects act as natural pest controllers. For example, ladybirds eat aphids.
- Ants and beetles dig tunnels that aerate the soil and allow water to drain.
Why build an insect hotel?
An insect hotel is basically a safe haven for insects, offering them a place to nest and shelter.
Modern gardens often lack the dry crevices insects need to shelter in winter. A bug hotel gives them a place to shelter and escape frost and wind.
A good bug hotel doesn’t have to be as big as the one in the photo above. A drink bottle or tin can filled with twigs, pine cones, and bits of bark works perfectly.
How to Build a Simple Insect Hotel
You’ll need
A large plastic drink bottle or tin can
A selection of twigs, bamboo, acorns, tree bark and pine cones
Ask an adult to cut both ends off the plastic bottle.
Recycle the two ends and keep the middle bit.
Carefully fill the middle of the plastic bottle with a selection of your twigs, pine cones, and sticks. Remember, insects need room to move around.
Place your bug hotel in a quiet, shady area outdoors, it’s now ready for the first guests.
Use my free design and recording sheet to keep track of any visitors!
More ideas for learning about insects
Go on a minibeast hunt.
Create a delicious edible butterfly life cycle.
Play a fun build a beetle game.
Learn about animal behaviour with a choice chamber.
Last Updated on September 24, 2026 by Emma Vanstone
