Bees Drinking From Bird Bath

[jonnybeegood]

Yes it does, they have resident swans at kew garden.

& on that note, goodnight.

 

[MikeT]

Er, swallows arent garden birds? There are small shore birds, they arent garden birds either?? What type of birds are you talking about?

First time I seen swallows reported as "shore" birds. According to the British Trust for Ornithology their habitat is:-

"Habitat Occupancy (in the Breeding Season):

Most frequent in: Villages
Also common in: Pasture Farmland "

 

[pargyle]

Well ... My bees have decided that the dirty water with rotting leaves in it that they have been picking up from a bucket I left at the bottom of the garden no longer meets their dietary and vitamin requirements and dozens of them, today, were all over my rainwater fed pond (very clear, no fish just a lot of tadpoles). The margins have loostrife which we have just cut back and the bees seem to like the top of the cut stems to pick up the water. I assume that the dry stems act like wicks and they find it easy to fill up. Rather pleased that they are taking in relatively clean water - mind you, our labrador prefers our pond water to the (extremely hard) Portsmouth tap water so I'm not surorised.

 

[jonnybeegood]

First time I seen swallows reported as "shore" birds. According to the British Trust for Ornithology their habitat is:-

"Habitat Occupancy (in the Breeding Season):

Most frequent in: Villages
Also common in: Pasture Farmland "

Now you have me off ignore, again, read my post properly, i never said swallows were shore birds, in fact read the whole thread before commenting.

 

[TryingToLetThemBee]

Swans => Mr ASBO / Asboy / Asbaby on the Cam. Just a train of thought: still think a few more 2-week ASBOs would come in handy on here. The clashes are sometimes amusing but more often dull and harmful to the tone of the "place". Just saying.

 

[MikeT]

Now you have me off ignore, again, read my post properly, i never said swallows were shore birds, in fact read the whole thread before commenting.

I am sorry I misread your comment, but please do not be so rude in your replies.

 

[Cussword]

Now you have me off ignore, again, read my post properly, i never said swallows were shore birds, in fact read the whole thread before commenting.

You said that Swallows were "small shore birds"

Does the size make the difference.

I read the forum every day, and don't comment much, but I have to say that you are very aggressive to anyone who has a different opinion from yourself.

 

[pargyle]

I read the forum every day, and don't comment much, but I have to say that you are very aggressive to anyone who has a different opinion from yourself.

Yep ... I do as well but comment a bit more ... when you see unnecessary aggressive postings it's a bit like getting a splinter in your thumb when you didn't expect it ... it just irritates until you can get rid of it.

JBG - you need to learn - even the most moderate on here appear to be commenting about your 'style'.

 

[TryingToLetThemBee]

@Admin and @Hivemaker. Before you redact and close this thread, you could crowdsource the issue @Cussword is picking up on. "Ignoring" has its drawbacks but we could all do it more. So rather than you refereeing every post, 10, say, ignores could pick up a 2-week ban that clears the "ignores" and then some process for repeat offences. Just an idea.

 

[Stiffy]

I think its a great idea. I try not to use the ignore button too much but some despite reasoning have to go into room 101.
S

 

[wessexmario]

@Admin and @Hivemaker. Before you redact and close this thread, you could crowdsource the issue @Cussword is picking up on. "Ignoring" has its drawbacks but we could all do it more. So rather than you refereeing every post, 10, say, ignores could pick up a 2-week ban that clears the "ignores" and then some process for repeat offences. Just an idea.

an idea but it gets complicated to implement anything like this to work automatically without causing further grief.

What's to stop someone quickly registering 10 usernames, then using each to ignore someone?
Or having 10 "idle" usernames added over a period of time to avoid checks on things like post counts or length of membership?

I see this sort of shenanigans all the time on other forums,
there's no substitute for a [Report] button and an even handed moderator.

 

[BeeJayBee]

Why even debate it ? Theres no need to put salt in it so why do it. They would probsbly dring water with dog **** in it, would you add that too?

You raised the issue by complaining about a tiny amount of salt in a bowl of water and yes, some people will add manure to water and for good reasons too. Birds and bees will drink it, if they want to.

Maybe expand and extend your knowledge a bit by listening to other people and learning from their opinions and experience, and maybe read some different books.

yeah thats right, seagulls are garden birds, i once had a swan in the garden i guess that makes them garden birds now too, i better get the Rspb to rewrite the books

Birds are the same as our bees, they're illiterate, so it doesn't matter what the books say.

There are many species of gulls, there is no such species as a 'seagull' which is a catch-all term used by those who aren't quick enough with their identification. Many gulls are opportunist birds, are not restricted to coastal areas. They will nest on city buildings and, if they have a plentiful food source and adequate nesting site, may never visit the sea in their lifetime because they don't need to.

Wrt saline water - what do you think happens in coastal gardens and coastal fields, where storms move salt-laden spray inland for quite a distance? The local birds, even the ones that rspb might refer to as woodland or grassland species - areas do overlap - will still use the ponds and watercourses, even with the added salt and, you know, they manage just fine.

Birds can choose where they eat, where they drink, and where they bathe because they can fly. There are no flightless birds in this country, except in zoos and private collections.

 

[Madge]

Why do we now have @ symbols in the forum when referring to a person? As for the 'ignore' button - I never use it. I simply ignore what I find tedious and move on. I guess many other people do the same.

 

[jonnybeegood]

Wow, nice comments, perhaps if you read from post 6 which was mine you will see how this thread went wrong. I posted because its not good for garden birds to be given salt, which is correct . It seems everytime i post something people look for a fault in what ive said so the gang can jump on the band wagon & twist everything so i look bad again. Read all the posts again, read the last few nasty posts too & see where i have been nasty or aggressive. Yes i can be abrupt with a post but its always when someone is having a snide dig that strangly none of you ever seem to pick up on.

 

[Ely]

It would be a lot easier to self moderate. Try not to feed the trolls and try not to be a troll

 

[Dishmop]

Wow, nice comments, perhaps if you read from post 6 which was mine you will see how this thread went wrong. I posted because its not good for garden birds to be given salt, which is correct . It seems everytime i post something people look for a fault in what ive said so the gang can jump on the band wagon & twist everything so i look bad again. Read all the posts again, read the last few nasty posts too & see where i have been nasty or aggressive. Yes i can be abrupt with a post but its always when someone is having a snide dig that strangly none of you ever seem to pick up on.

thats mostly because half of what you write is rubbish. If salt was that bad for birds they wouldnt drink it.
What about swimming pool water that bees like to drink?

 

[itma]

Personally, I'm not so sure that bees "choose" or "like" smelly water -- but it is going to be very much easier for them to find. And once they've found it, they'll tell their pals ... so it'll be popular.


Bees will definitely 'prefer' warmer water to cooler, and still to moving.
Foraging for water - or specifically returning with a full load of chilly water - is work with a serious danger of death for bees. Winston quotes research that the water foragers are among the oldest (thus most expendable) workers.
Bees seem most confident (and likely to call in more helpers) 'drinking' from something spongey (like moss) rather than from the water directly.

But salt doesn't have a smell (unlike swimming pool and hot tub chemicals), or contribute useful minerals, so I'm not sure what benefit might come from adding it to a bee watering hole.

 

[MikeT]

I noticed today the bees are taking the water from puddles on a tarpaulin covering fodder beet. It will be quite warm as the depth is only 1/2 inch or so. I will refill with the hose if its evaporated.

 

[Hivemaker.]

I see this sort of shenanigans all the time on other forums,
there's no substitute for a [Report] button and an even handed moderator.

JBG, has been suspended for two weeks.

 

[For want of a better word]

Perhaps we should take all this with a pinch of salt!

My bees are now being spoilt in their new apiary, by the owner setting up a drip hose/ soaker hose ... sort of black porous stuff , fed from a spring father up the valley 200m away... she made a special trip to Endsleigh to buy it when I mentioned the bees like to drink from it!!


Restored my belief in human kindness

Yeghes da