Join us in our Fix Your Farm Carpentry Series as we build a Bug Hotel. A bug hotel is a winter home for beneficial insects which are key to a healthy growing ecosystem. Nathan May from Trinity River Audubon Center will give a short presentation on how to provide the best habitat for ladybugs, praying mantis, and native bees. Then, Brandon Iker, farmer and craftsman, will help you build a bug hotel. You will measure and cut wood, learn how to use common power tools, and construct your own bug house to take home! You can choose to design and make your own hotel with the wood provided or follow a standard plan and make a basic design. Materials will be provided and we welcome extra reeds, small bamboo pieces (1-5 millimeters), sticks, branches, and small clay pots.
Bring work gloves, safety glasses, and strong garden snips if you have them. Wear closed-toed shoes and dress properly for woodworking. We will spend time indoors and outdoors. All the building materials will be provided. Due to the tools we will use, this class is for people 13 years and older.
The class will start in the gym at Owenwood Neighbor Space, 1451 John West Rd, Dallas from 6-8 PM. A water fountain and water bottle fill station are available. Park behind the building. You will see a single metal door on the northwest corner of the building. The door will be open. Enter through that door. You will enter the gym where we will start class. There is a beige metal building near the door where the wood-cutting station will be set up.
MEET THE INSTRUCTORS:
Nathan May is an educator at the Trinity River Audubon Center, where he's the team's biggest bug enthusiast! His love for plants feeds his love for the bees that visit them and vice versa. Of the well over 100 bees in DFW, Nathan's favorite is the Curved Pebble Bee, Dianthidium curvatum, one that was very common in the first pollinator garden he ever built. If you want to keep nerding out about bugs with him, you can join him at TRAC for any of the Bioblitzes or bug catching programs he hosts!
Brandon Iker, PhD. has a wealth of knowledge in urban and rural small farm operations, sustainability, and water quality. Brandon’s workshops combine deep scientific insights with practical, real-world applications. He's worked on a farm for 10 years and holds a PhD in Environmental Science from the University of Arizona. He also earned dual B.S. degrees in Ecology and Molecular Biology from Northern Kentucky University.
