Advice Please - thirsty bees

Beekeeping & Apiculture Forum

Help Support Beekeeping & Apiculture Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
If you find a way of getting bees to drink from a clean vessel rather than a dirty pool of muddy rain let me know..

Persevere! Anara bought an entrance feeder last year as a water feeder & the bees ignored it.
It got left outside over winter (got dirty!) & the bees have started drinking from it in the last couple of weeks. When it froze up this week I took it in to thaw it out & clean it & the bees are still drinking from it. It's in a sunny spot & I think that helps.
 
I have a large piece of 'oasis' (flower arrangers hard sponge)in a container and the bees are all over it. They can drink without the danger of drowning. Just top up to keep it moist.
 
Good Idea Heather. might try that one.

I had a planter full of shingle which i kept topped up, the birds liked it, bees totally unimpressed, they went straight for the moss on top of the garages.
 
Hi Grizzly

I bet the water on the garage roof was also warmer, try putting the source in the sun. On one site of mine the bees ignore the natural pond until summer and work the dew on a grass bank in full sun. Obviously smaller volumes of water also warm quicker.


Regards Ian
 
good point about sunlight Ian, we sometimes think that just because it feels warm the bees wont need direct sun, and i also think they like watching me create and build elaborate and in hindsight, completely unecessary things, purely to give me the V's afterward.
 
some honey is more likely to ferment when crystalization commences

The bees know best. They have been doing it (storing honey) far longer than we have. They (or at least mine) don't seem to have any problems. Just don't 'half melt' a bucket of honey and bottle only the liquid half, or you may run into problems without further moisture checks......

Regards, RAB
 
Back
Top