Is it dumb if I drill holes instead of installing soffit vents

Looking for a permaculture perspective on this.  As in, I don't mind if bees move in, anything that isn't a mouse, a termite, or a carpenter ant.  I just really want ventilation and would like to save money and materials.

(Therr are already gable vents, the ones at the top, but no intake vents at the bottom of the roof sections.)

What can go wrong that I don't know about?? Thanks

What is the structure?

Photo will help, there may already be air inlets via tiles etc

How many wasp nests are you willing to tolerate? I can assure you they will have no tolerance for you.

If you drill holes, use a hole saw and cover them with strong steel mesh. This from the voice of experience.

It was pretty common for houses where I grew up to have holes for soffit ventilation and they were always covered with screening.

You can buy pre-made soffit vent snap-in inserts of varying sizes.

https://www.homedepot.com/s/soffit%2520vent%2520insert?NCNI-5

We did this on our house. Shed roof. Like Douglas suggests, we used a hole saw and covered with steel window screen. We haven't opened anything up to see what's going on in there, but no obvious problems so far, six years in.

What material is this? Wood? Plastic?

Why don't you want to use vents? A quick search shows me a ten pack of vents is £4.00. You would probably pay more than that for sturdy mesh to do a DIY job.

There's a bunch of options, from the snap-in round louver vents (link above) that fit into a hole-saw hole, to 10' long louver vent strips, which can replace a strip of the soffit.
If you DIY, then window screen to cover larger holes or cut-outs; or a crazy idea... drill thousands of tiny holes. it's probably easiest to cut strips off a roll of window screen width that you could safely reach to fully secure over the holey soffit from one/each placement of the ladder, (arm's reach L/R)

I'm not so sure that you actually WANT bees to build a hive/comb/honey in your walls... if they could find their way into the interior, that could be a big hassle.
Mainly, you wouldn't want the hive to attract mice or other insects that would be attracted to rob the honey, or eat the bees, or whatever. Hard enough to keep the mice out, without luring them in.

Michael Cox wrote:What material is this? Wood? Plastic?

Why don't you want to use vents? A quick search shows me a ten pack of vents is £4.00. You would probably pay more than that for sturdy mesh to do a DIY job.

I already have metal screening which seems like mesh to me, but please send me a link, that 8s a reasonable price! I'm seeing $12 for a 4-pack of tiny ones...I'd even buy them off you with shipping.   Thanks.

Thanks everyone.   I'm ok with the soffit barriers for how, but longterm I really want us to build earthen roofs on our houses!

The structure is wood, old 1900 farmhouse, 8" eves or so, angled down a bit away from the house.  Lead paint on everything everywhere all at once.

I like the tiny holes idea, it means less $ going out of the local economy, but I bet it would stir up a hornet's nest or lead paint dust.