Bees on a water fountain

[peteinwilts]

A friendly mansion owner has let me keep some bees within their grounds

They host weddings and dinner partys at the mansion, and they have a small ornimental fountain as a centrepiece that is a magnet for someone elses bees in the area.

Although the people who own the mansion do not mind the bees, their guests are often concerned, particularly when there is heavy flight traffic around the fountain.
There are numerous other water sources, including ponds, gardners hoses, water troughs etc, but they still prefer the fountain.

Is there anything that can be put in the fountain that will disuade the bees (one of the aromatheripy oils prehaps?)

Needless to say, on other peoples land, politics is everything.

 

[alldigging]

What about a drop of bee quick?

Someone said almond oil repels bees (and uses it for clearing them out of supers)

 

[bjosephd]

My understanding is it's very difficult to get bees away from a water source once they have found it unless it is removed.

If the fountain is small maybe suggest they totally drain it for as often and long as possible and just crank it back into action for the functions, weddings, parties etc. Maybe then the bees will get bored of it's unreliability as a water source.

 

[bjosephd]

Or put a little sign up saying "You might see some thirsty honey bees collecting water, they are not interested in you, just the water. However, if you are interested, we sell their honey in our shop."