The Pollinator Housing Project revolve around building homes for pollinators such as honey bees, wild bees, bumble bees and butterflies. Honey bees are great pollinators, however recent studies have shown that wild pollinators such as solitary bees, bumble bees and butterflies often are more important for efficient pollination. Unfortunately honey bees are having a tough time and many species of wild pollinators are on the decline. One of several contributing factors to the demise of wild pollinators are the disappearance of their habitats. In some cases their situation can be improved by constructing various houses for them. However, constructing a pollinator house can be a good idea even if it isn't strictly necessary.

"If backyard bugwatchers become engaged with the interactions they see in their gardens, they might become stronger advocates for keeping highway medians herbicide-free, for assuring that only biological control agents are used to manage pests on food crops and for establishing corridors linking protected areas." - The Forgotten Pollinators, S. L. Buchmann and G. P. Nabhan




At Färgfabriken (top) we made houses for solitary bees out of reed, paper straws and used milk cartons. At the spring farming day at Hästa gård (a public farm in Stockholm) we made houses for solitary bees by drilling holes in pieces of wood from trees that had been cut down at the farm.

Here is A Brief Guide To Building Houses for Wild Pollinators.

The Pollinator Housing Project has been shown at Hästa gård (SE) in May 2012 and at Färgfabriken (SE) in November 2012 - March 2013.

The Pollinator Housing Project has been realized by Erik Sjödin with the help of Hästa gård, a public farm in Stockholm (SE), the contemporary art and architecture space Färgfabriken in Stockholm (SE), The Swedish Museum of Natural History in Stockholm (SE) and Karin Ahrné at the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences in Uppsala (SE).