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 to set up a butterfly hotel and why it makes sense for our environment and your garden.
Many types of insects 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 brightly shimmering wings, but also make an important contribution to the garden as pollinators. But unfortunately there is a 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 Creation of a flower meadowdo something good. Just like food, a protective quarters is essential for the survival of 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 point. In fact, the butterfly boxes work on the same principle as the well-known insect hotels that are already closed in many gardens are: 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 (e.g. at night) are harmful moths 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. The butterfly house is so popular with some butterfly species such as the peacock butterfly and the brimstone butterfly that it is used as a safe winter quarters for the cold season.
What good is a butterfly house in the garden?
A butterfly house in the garden is always an asset, because in contrast to conventional insect hotels, it is not tailored to various other types of insects, but specifically to the needs of the magical butterflies 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 don't just make a great impression visually: as pollinators, they take care of it beneficialsto ensure that the garden blooms and thrives. 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 not only enriches the garden visually, but also actively helps to preserve biodiversity.
The perfect complement to a butterfly house is a butterfly pasture, that's why we have ours Plantura butterfly meeting developed - a seed mixture of various annual and perennial butterfly-friendly plants that you can easily sow in the garden, in pots or balcony boxes.
Build or buy a butterfly hotel?
Anyone who wants to help to preserve our native butterfly species will sooner or later think about buying a butterfly box, because this is (unlike 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 rather buy it from a specialist store.
In fact, building a butterfly house is not that difficult if you have some DIY skills. The basic structure of the butterfly hotel resembles a typical wooden bird nesting box with a sloping roof. The only difference: Instead of a single entry hole, the front consists of several slits. 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. On the other hand, if 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 protect its little residents adequately from wind and weather, you should also make sure to protect the wood from weathering with oil or glaze and to cover the roof with roofing felt cover.
However, if you are not gifted with manual talent, you can also use butterfly boxes from specialist shops. Important points to consider when purchasing a butterfly box are the correct size of the entry 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
Theoretically, an empty butterfly house is enough to give the insects the necessary protection from the weather, since the animals often settle on the walls of the house. In practice, however, it has proven useful to additionally fill the butterfly house: Dry brushwood or pieces of bark in the butterfly hotel ensure that the butterflies have more support Find. If you also want to make your butterfly house attractive for other insects, you can fill the bottom centimeters of the house with wood shavings or bark mulch - flies and beetles, especially this one ladybug, also like to use the butterfly house and do not pose a threat to the butterflies. The filling material should be replaced once a year and the butterfly hotel should be checked for any defects. Ideally, this takes place in late autumn, since by this time the summer visitors to the butterfly box have already moved out, but those over the winter have not yet settled in.
tip: More information on what butterflies in winter you can find out in our special article.
Setting up a butterfly house: The perfect location
Once the butterfly house has been fully equipped, the choice of location must be made: a sheltered, partially shaded to sunny spot is best. A house wall with a protective eaves is an ideal place for the butterfly hotel, as it is also shielded from rain and snow. In addition, care must be taken to keep the butterfly box out of the reach of pets (especially cats). is hung up, as they like to hunt down the colorful insects - but the butterfly house should not be higher than two meters hang. Also in the immediate vicinity of bird feeders or The butterfly hotel should not stand in bird incubators, otherwise the butterflies are easy prey. It is also optimal if it is near 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. To learn how to make your garden as butterfly-friendly as possible, see our article on creating one insect friendly garden.