Butterflies are important for biodiversity. Putting a butterfly house in the garden or on the balcony can be a good idea to protect these insects. We show how and where you can set up a butterfly hotel and why it makes sense for our environment and your garden.
Many types of insect cause disgust or fear in people - but the butterfly is usually a motley exception. The colorful animals are popular with young and old and not only ensure a good mood with their colorful, iridescent wings, but also make an important contribution in the garden as pollinators. But unfortunately there is one problem: Many native butterfly speciesare now threatened with extinction or are considered critically endangered. If you want to give the colorful butterflies a helping hand, you can use the Creating a flower meadowdo something good. Just like food, a protective quarter is vital for the insects, which you can offer them in the form of a butterfly house.
How does a butterfly house help its residents?
Butterfly houses are still relatively unknown in Germany, which is why many doubt their meaning. In fact, the butterfly boxes work on the same principle as the well-known insect hotels that are already closed in many gardens are found: The artificial box serves as a substitute for natural retreats and protects against wind and weather, but also against Predators. The last point in particular is crucial for the butterflies - low temperatures (for example at night) are harmful the butterflies usually do not, but ensure that they are almost immobile and thus an easy target for predators represent. In a butterfly hotel, on the other hand, the animals can survive cold nights unscathed. For some butterfly species such as the peacock butterfly and the lemon butterfly, the butterfly house is so popular that it is used as a safe winter quarters for the cold season.
What does a butterfly house bring in the garden?
A butterfly house in the garden is always an asset, because unlike conventional insect hotels, it is not tailored to various other insect species, but specifically to the needs of the magical moths customized. Especially in combination with butterfly-friendly plantsthe butterfly hotel ensures that numerous colorful butterflies find their way into your garden - a fascinating spectacle that enchants children and adults alike. But the little butterflies in the garden are not only visually impressive: they act as pollinators Beneficial insectsfor the garden to bloom and flourish. Because of their long proboscis, the moths can also pollinate plants whose calyxes are forBees and Bumblebees are too long, which is often the case with wildflowers in particular. A butterfly box enriches the garden not only visually, but also actively helps to preserve biodiversity.
The perfect addition to a butterfly house is a butterfly pasture, so we have ours Plantura butterfly meeting developed - a seed mixture of various annual and perennial butterfly-friendly plants, which you can easily sow in the garden, in pots or balcony boxes.
Build or buy a butterfly hotel?
Anyone who wants to help preserve our native butterfly species will sooner or later think about buying a butterfly box, because this is (different from a Insect hotel, which does not always optimally meet the requirements of butterflies) specially adapted to the needs of butterflies and is therefore better off the colorful butterflies accepted. The question quickly arises as to whether you should build the butterfly hotel yourself or maybe not buy it at a specialist store.
In fact, building a butterfly house is not particularly difficult if you have some craftsmanship. The basic structure of the butterfly hotel resembles a typical nesting box for birds made of wood with a sloping roof. The only difference: Instead of a single entrance hole, the front consists of several slots. These entry slots should each be 15 centimeters long and about one centimeter wide - if the slots are smaller, the butterfly house cannot be used by all moths. If, on the other hand, they are larger, predators have an easy time of it. It is also worth installing a "maintenance flap" - for example in the form of a hinged front panel - through which you can fill and clean the butterfly house. In order for the butterfly hotel to adequately protect its little residents from wind and weather, you should Also make sure to protect the wood from weathering with oil or glaze and cover the roof with roofing felt cover.
However, if you are not gifted with technical talent, you can also use butterfly boxes from specialist retailers. Important points to consider when buying a butterfly box are the correct size of the approach lanes and the use of durable material. It is also advisable to choose a box that can be opened on one side so that the filling can be exchanged without any problems.
Fill the butterfly house
In theory, an empty butterfly house is enough to give the insects the necessary protection from the weather, as the animals often settle on the walls of the house. In practice, however, it has proven useful to fill the butterfly house additionally: Dry sticks or pieces of bark in the butterfly hotel ensure that the moths have more hold Find. If you want to make your butterfly house attractive to other insects, you can fill the bottom centimeters of the house with wood wool or bark mulch - flies and beetles, especially the one Ladybug, also like to use the butterfly house and do not pose a threat to the butterflies. Once a year the filling material should be replaced and the butterfly hotel checked for possible defects. Ideally, this takes place in late autumn, since by this time the summer visitors to the butterfly box have already moved out, but the wintering people have not yet settled down.
tip: More information about what Butterflies in winter you can find out in our special article.
Setting up the butterfly house: the perfect location
Once the butterfly house is fully equipped, the choice of location is up to you: A protected, partially shaded to sunny place is best. A house wall with a protective roof overhang is an ideal place for the butterfly hotel, as it is also shielded from rain and snow. In addition, it must be ensured that the butterfly box is out of the reach of pets (especially cats) because they like to hunt the colorful insects - but the butterfly house should not be higher than two meters hang. Also in the immediate vicinity of bird feeders or bird feeders. The butterfly hotel should not have bird incubators, otherwise the butterflies are easy prey. It is also optimal when it is close to suitable butterfly flowersis set up: This not only ensures that the butterfly house is better accepted, but also offers the butterflies a buffet right in front of the front door.
In addition to a butterfly house, there are many other ways to support the colorful insects in the garden. You can find out how to make your garden as butterfly-friendly as possible in our article on creating one insect-friendly garden.
