Final run from Bruce's shed in Havelock North, Hawke's Bay · In 11 active carts
Bruce's Hand-Built Bee Bach Bee Hotel
Bruce's Hand-Built Bee Bach Bee Hotel
Dispatched within 2–3 working days
30-day satisfaction guarantee
Free tracked shipping New Zealand-wide
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Bruce's Hand-Built Bee Bach Bee Hotel
Hand-Built in a Timber-and-Iron Shed in Hawke’s Bay — Solid Cedar, Hand-Folded Copper Ridge
Bruce Gillespie, 74, joiner, Havelock North. Forty-two years refining one thing: a nesting home New Zealand’s solitary bees will actually move into. His right shoulder won’t hold the fine work any more. This is the final run.
“After Gabrielle everyone was digging silt off the trees. Nobody was looking for the holes the bees lived in. The water went down in a week. The bees’ homes never came back.”
— Bruce Gillespie, Havelock North, Hawke’s Bay
What Arrives
Six Things That Decide Whether the Brood Gets Out
“I’ve watched solitary bees in Hawke’s Bay gardens and orchards for over twenty years, and the failed hotels I find all fail the same way: split bamboo in random sizes, tunnels barely ten centimetres deep, rough bores, treated pine and an open back. Our native masked bees want fine, smooth tunnels; the leafcutters want wider, deeper ones — in untreated timber, closed at the rear and kept dry. That is the whole specification. It isn’t complicated. It’s just rarely done.”
— Dr. Anne Whitlock, amateur native bee recorder, Hastings
Suits
Why It Lasts
- Untreated solid cedar, 19 mm. Not plywood, not a laminate, not treated pine. The timber boatbuilders have trusted for generations.
- Hand-folded copper at the ridge. The seam where rain gets in first is flashed in metal that won’t rust or crack.
- Hand-dressed tunnels. Every bore passes the flax test before it leaves the bench. A rough tunnel is a tunnel no bee uses twice.
- Sealed rear panel. Parasitic wasps can’t reach the brood from behind, which is where occupied hotels usually fail.
- Occupied since 2003. One of Bruce’s hotels has been full every spring on the same packing-shed wall near Hastings for twenty-three years — through Cyclone Gabrielle.
30-Day Satisfaction Guarantee
Put it up and see who moves in. If it isn’t right for any reason, send it back within 30 days for a full refund — no conditions, no questions, no fuss. Just email info@craft-folk.com.
Details
| Material | Solid untreated Western red cedar, 19 mm on every face |
| Roof | Two solid cedar boards with hand-folded copper ridge flashing |
| Dimensions | Approx. 20 × 18 × 20 cm |
| Openings | 2.5 mm to 9.5 mm, graded; tunnels approx. 15 cm deep |
| Tunnel finish | Hand-dressed, flax-tested, no standing fibres |
| Rear panel | Sealed solid cedar, parasite-proof |
| Mounting | Flush-set heavy-gauge steel hook plus two feet — hang, fix flat or stand |
| Suits | Native masked bees, leafcutter bee, wool carder bee |
| Siting | North or north-east, approx. 1.5 m up, morning sun |
| Care | Leave outside year-round. Don’t bring into a garage or glasshouse over winter. |
| Made in | Havelock North, Hawke’s Bay — by hand since 1984 |
| Availability | Final run from Bruce’s shed. No restock, no successor. |
The Final Run
The Final Run
A note from the shed:
Bruce Gillespie has been building homes for New Zealand's solitary bees in a timber-and-iron shed in Havelock North, Hawke's Bay, since 1984. It started with a fence: pulling out old macrocarpa posts near Twyford, he found native masked bees living in the borer holes — and nearly put the whole lot on the burn pile. That weekend he drilled his first block. Within a fortnight three holes were sealed.
After Cyclone Gabrielle in 2023 he watched the orchards dug out of the silt — and every old post, dead branch and hollow stem the bees had lived in carted away with it. Forty-two years on, every Bee Bach is still cut, notched and hand-dressed by Bruce, and every tunnel passes his flax test before it leaves the bench: if a dry flax stalk snags, the board goes back.
Helping a neighbour clear silt after the cyclone, he came off a ladder and tore the rotator cuff in his right shoulder. He can still saw and plane, but he can no longer hold the fine rasp steady at arm's length. There is no successor. These are the last hotels from his bench — priced to end up on fences and shed walls, not on shelves.
Delivery & Dimensions
Delivery & Dimensions
Free tracked shipping New Zealand-wide
- Dispatched within 2–3 working days
- Approx. 20 × 18 × 20 cm, 19 mm solid untreated cedar on every face
- Cedar pitched roof with hand-folded copper ridge flashing
- Openings graded 2.5–9.5 mm, tunnels approx. 15 cm deep, sealed rear panel
- Flush-set steel hook plus two feet — hang, fix flat or stand
- Best sited north or north-east facing, about 1.5 m up. Leave outside all year.
Frequently Asked Questions
Got a question? Here’s how to reach us.
Got a question? Here’s how to reach us.
Email us any time at info@craft-folk.com. We answer Monday to Friday 9am–5pm and Saturday mornings 10am–1pm (New Zealand time). Every order is packed by Bruce's granddaughter Libby, so if you need something changed before it goes out, just say.
Can I return it if it’s not for me?
Can I return it if it’s not for me?
Of course. 30-day satisfaction guarantee. Put it up, see who moves in, and if it isn't right for you, email info@craft-folk.com within 30 days for a full refund. No conditions, no questions, no restocking fee.
How is it made — and why does that matter here?
How is it made — and why does that matter here?
Bruce cuts, notches and hand-dresses every hotel himself in a 34-square-metre timber-and-iron shed in Havelock North, Hawke's Bay. Solid untreated Western red cedar, 19 mm on every face, a cedar roof with a hand-folded copper ridge, openings graded from 2.5 to 9.5 mm and tunnels around 15 cm deep, sealed at the back. Every tunnel passes the flax test: if a dry flax stalk snags, the board goes back on the bench. That is what decides whether a native masked bee or a leafcutter moves in — and whether her brood makes it out.