“Insects, worms, and other small animals that carry out vital functions for life have declined by 45% average over 35 years, threatening humans water quality and food supply.”
-Steve Connor. “Vital invertebrates decline 45 percent, study finds,” independent.co.uk, July 2014
Research Proposal & Introduction
In a country that is continuously expanding and becoming more populated by buildings, cities, and roads, the room for insects is slowly getting slimmer and slimmer. The purpose of this project is to provide protection and a safe place for our earths insects and creepy crawlies to reside in, as they are a key component to a healthy, living, and thriving world.
Research
To start out the project I had researched images of other insect hotels to get some sort of idea as to what they looked like, and to spark some inspiration. Then I researched the overall purpose of an insect hotel in general. Many people make them for their garden to liven up the garden and keep the plants alive and flourishing. Insect houses are great for keeping the insects safe when they hibernate, and for solitary bees, it helps to provide a stable place for the eggs to be laid.
Initial Sketches and Final Preparatory Drawing
When coming up with and idea for this project, I really wanted to incorporate a natural aspect to it, for the piece to blend into the natural earth as much as possible, but while also functioning as an insect hotel. When planning it out, I had originally planned on the butterfly box being on a post coming from the top of the log, and the log being only an inch wide from the hollowed point. Inside the hollowed log I had intended on putting boxes inside, and filling those up with leaves, twigs, pinecones etc, for the insects to reside. On top of the log I wanted there to be a metal bowl that I would have filled with dirt and planted some vegetation into. This, I realized very quickly was very unrealistic and almost impossible to do, as hollowing a log out to that thin of an outside, would have taken hours upon hours of chiseling alone, plus, maintaining vegetation would defeat the purpose of being left to the nature to coexist, if there is constant messing around with it. After a very extensive amount of frustration and continuous brainstorming for a similar but do-able design that I could still use my log for, I decided on the current design. Still wanting the butterfly box, I decided to attach it to the side, as well as some little logs with holes drilled in for solitary bees. Then a roof over the top to protect the inside from rotting and getting too soiled, and to protect the bugs that would choose to reside in the hole as well, like spiders and pill bugs.
After much contemplation and frustration, I finally came up with a design that worked with the resources available to me, as it took so long to find a log with a hole in it. As my final design, I took my semi hollowed out log, and attached a butterfly box to the side, along with many little log slices with holes drilled for the solitary bees to lay their eggs. Not shown in the google sketch is how the roof is at a 90 degree angle rather than flat, as I had changed the design with closer consideration, since with snow or leaves falling in the winter and fall, the slant is best. Since the hole inside of the log is too small to go with the boxes on the inside, I am using it with the intention of it being a nice dark place for any spiders, and worms at the bottom to gather underneath the log. There are also some slight dimension changes from the google sketch up to the final product.
Final Thoughts/Reflection
As a whole, this piece was extremely stressful and time consuming, but once I got it done I liked it much better than the original design. I am pleased that the function of it is just the same as intended from the beginning, as there is still good room for spiders within the hollow hole of the log, yet still also provides nesting for solitary bees, butterflies, and any other insect in search of a place to stay.
From the beginning I had envisioned my hotel as having a very natural appearance to it, providing space deliberately for insects, while at the same time not standing out too much from any other surrounding natural beauty. The process of making a piece like this, is one that I’ve never gone through before, which was definitely a struggle throughout the whole making, but now I know how to practice some basic wood working skills. I also very importantly learned through my constant re-designing, that it is important to scrap ideas over and over, as long as there is progress being made. I also got extremely sick the first week of shop on this project, so I spent more time working on it out of class then during, which frustrated me but is now an extreme accomplishment.
Maintenance
Since my piece is designed to blend in with nature, I also intended for it to have no maintenance needed. This is to allow it to be a part of nature instead of being a guest within, and at the same time allows for other vegetation to enter it and surround it.