This is a great project for you and the children in the summer holidays. A bug home or bee nest is a great way to introduce children to the delights of watching wildlife and will help attract them away from their ipads and smart phones too!!! Pack a selection of plant stems (like teasels, lupins, elder, sweet cicely etc) into a suitable container. A tin can will work (look out for the sharp edges) or nail three small planks of wood into a triangle shape. It's important that there is a back to whatever you use - as the bugs will need the plant stems at the back to be sealed.

Attach your bug box to a south facing wall or a tree trunk in direct sunlight at about chest height. It will likely be a short time before mason bees and leaf cutter bees start to make their home in the tubes, laying their eggs and taking pollen into the chambers for the larvae to feed upon. In the winter your box will make a protective habitat for all sorts of invertebrates to shelter in.