When special occasions come round, it's easy to search for 'things' to buy, panic rising as you try to find that elusive, perfect gift! This Father's Day we want our range to be combined with the best gift of all, spending time with dad. We're calling it 'time to bee with dad'!
Whilst it might not be true that all dad's love DIY, we know there are quite a few out there who do and so we've put together this little guide for a weekend project that you might want to do with dad this Father's Day, good for dad, good for you and great for the solitary bees!
Bee with Dad - Weekend Project
Materials you need
- A willing dad
- Time
- Tea, coffee, or maybe something stronger
- A brick wall
- Mortar mix
- A drill
- A chisel
- A Bee Brick
Step 1.
The first thing you need to do is to identify a good spot to install your Bee Brick. Ideally, you want a south facing wall and you want the Bee Brick to be at least 1 metre from ground level, with no upward limit, though if you can avoid using a step ladder there's less chance of a fall out (of fall down!) with dad!
Step 2.
Identify the brick that you're going to remove and drill through the brick in several places to weaken the surface. You then need to chip out the remaining brick using a chisel, removing all the rubble and ensuring that, if you're working on a wall with a cavity behind, none escapes into this space.
Step 3.
Prepare the mortar according to the instructions and make a bed joint with the mortar for the Bee Brick to sit on.
Step 4.
Insert your Bee Brick into the cavity and cement into place. The fascia has been designed to sit flush with the wall so pointing the mortar around it should be a fairly simple task.
Step 5.
Make dad a drink and a sandwich, after all this day is all about him! Offer to tidy up and put everything away, don't worry it's only for one day!
Step 6.
Sit back and appreciate your handiwork! If you've got a bit of energy left and dad's still keen, you could have a look at the garden and see if you could add any more bee friendly plants, every little helps after all. And then all you have to do is keep an eye on the Bee Brick to see when you spot your first inhabitants, which could be any time between March and September.
If you find time to Bee with dad this Father's Day then we'd love to hear about it, drop us a line or share your pics on social using #beewithdad. If you want to know more about solitary bees then check out our blog post here, and if you haven't got a Bee Brick yet then you can head here to buy one!