To make a simple rectangular bug box all you need are five pieces of wood, something to hang it up with and some material to fill it with.

I used some pallet wood which was about 20mm thick and 90 mm wide.For the top and bottom you will need two pieces 90mm x 90mm and for the back one piece 300mm x 90mm.  The two sides should each be 300mm x 70mm (or 90mm less the thickness of the wood you are using).  The box can then be nailed or screwed together – do drill pilot holes to help prevent the wood from splitting.

The hanging arrangement (assuming it is to be hung up and not simply stood somewhere) can be a piece of string tied to nails or a D ring screwed to the back or you could simply drill a hole in the back to hang it on a screw.

Once you have made the box, you need to source materials to fill it.  Some bugs and bees  like long holes to crawl into, such as hollow bamboo canes cut to the right length or scrap wood with holes drilled in, twigs, dry grass, pine cones and other natural matter can be used, but pack it in tight so it doesn’t fall out, or you could fix chicken wire or similar to the front of the box (if you do this take care to fix batten over the raw edges so the chicken wire does not scratch).