Bug hotels are all the rage, its not hard to see why. Building a bug hotel is a great activity to involve children in. It sparks an interest in insects, wildlife and the outdoors.

Your tyre bug hotel can shelter bumblebees, ladybirds , woodlice and so much more. The autumn is great time of year to build one as you are likely to have a variety of natural materials available. You can use straw, dry grass and hollow plant stems.

How to make a recycled tyre bug hotel

To make your own recycled tyre bug hotel balance your tyre on a piece of brick either side. I found this tyre dumped by the side of the road, but I am sure you can ask your local garage for an old tyre.

Place something like sticks or straw across the base of the tyre. It needs to be a material which crosses the gap within the tyre. We have used sticks.

Cut a piece of wood to lay on top, it needs to be the width of the tyre tube.

Place your next layer. We have used pieces of a old hose pipe, followed by the stems from our corn crop. In the middle we have placed a former brick drain pipe, with a vw logo made out of foam board.

Place a layer of wood across. Fill your next layer, we have used the pine cones followed by sticks.

It’s dead easy to make and makes a fun alternative to have a round DIY bug hotel.

This post is sponsored by Volkswagen – check out other recycled and/or car related tutorials by fellow bloggers on the Volkswagen collaborative pinterest board “DIY Bloggers for Volkswagen“.