Can I make an insect hotel from sticks that blew down in a windstorm?

Question

Will taking a lot of dead twigs blown down from a windstorm, and tossing them in a pile create the cover required for an insect hotel?

Answer 1

Yes and no.

The idea of an insect hotel is to provide shelter (overwintering!) and places to lay their eggs for beneficial insects. Different species have different requirements, but while for overwintering many types of cavities are an option, wild bees and wasps typically need some kind of tube for laying their eggs, sometimes dug in dirt (mimicked by clay with poked holes or bricks with holes), sometimes hollow or soft-cored twigs (sambucus niger!), pieces of bamboo or decorative grasses. They should be closed at one end and be around 10 cm / 4 inches long.

Your twigs probably won't provide a place to nest, but a pile of twigs can provide shelter for many animals, from insects and spiders over lizzards and toads to hedgehogs and other small mammals.

I'm a great proponent of working with nature in a garden, not against it, so if you have a convenient spot where the pile won't bother you, go for it. If instead of wild bees a toad moves in that eats your slugs, you still benefit from it.