Do you provide drinking water for your bees?

[Antipodes]

I love it!

Perhaps some pools are a little saltier than others.....

 

[madasafish]

We have a small (2mx1m) garden pool with moss and oxtgentaing plants and tadpoles. Bees visit it all day in hundreds..

Just had to top it up due to dry weather.. Local frog not too impressed.

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

Hmm ... is that a euphemism for being lazy and not getting out when you need to pee ?

That's the test of a posh person - gets out the bath to use the toilet

 

[Amari]

That's the test of a posh person - gets out the bath to use the toilet

....the eternal definition of a gentleman

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

....the eternal definition of a gentleman

No - that's a person who takes the washing up out of the sink before having a pee

 

[Anduril]

No - that's a person who takes the washing up out of the sink before having a pee

That brings back memories of Steptoe and son, with Albert Steptoe taking a shower with the dishes underneath him.

 

[Amari]

No - that's a person who takes the washing up out of the sink before having a pee

Also the person who always rests on his elbows...

 

[understanding_bees]

My understanding is that one reason a water supply is regulated here is to provide an alternative water source for the bees other than backyard swimming pools. Swimming pools are particularly attractive apparently....such pools are an obvious urban bee water source and I also understand the water gets a little salty with the constant evaporation.

I have been thinking about the problems which may be caused by bees drinking from "non-approved" water sources, such as neighbour's swimming pools. We don't want to upset the neighbours, but neither do we want the bees to drown.

There have been comments about the difficulties of retraining bees, to encourage them to utilise "approved" water resources provided by a beekeeper. I wonder whether it may be appropriate, or effective, to place a small amount of honey (or honeycomb, etc) in a suitable shallow container which is placed in the middle of the desired watering place. It seems that bees are very successful in locating even small amounts of honey which is outside of their hive, so presumably that would quickly find that honey at the watering place. Would this be enough to get the bees to realise that they should also get their water at this spot?

 

[Gilberdyke John]

I have been thinking about the problems which may be caused by bees drinking from "non-approved" water sources, such as neighbour's swimming pools. We don't want to upset the neighbours, but neither do we want the bees to drown.

There have been comments about the difficulties of retraining bees, to encourage them to utilise "approved" water resources provided by a beekeeper. I wonder whether it may be appropriate, or effective, to place a small amount of honey (or honeycomb, etc) in a suitable shallow container which is placed in the middle of the desired watering place. It seems that bees are very successful in locating even small amounts of honey which is outside of their hive, so presumably that would quickly find that honey at the watering place. Would this be enough to get the bees to realise that they should also get their water at this spot?

Pretty soon there'll be a cloud of your bees, any other colony's bees, a multitude of other insects etc around it until it's cleaned up. Great way to distribute disease.

 

[Ian123]

It's a legal requirement in some municipalities here .... we seem to be generally more regulated here with regard to beekeeping.

That’s because you have lots of swimming pools

 

[Erichalfbee]

My nearest swimming pool is six miles away so I'm probably safe

 

[madasafish]

Moss around ponds really attracts bees. And reduces drowning.

But muddy pools full of cow dung are the bees knees.

 

[Murox]

Moss around ponds really attracts bees. And reduces drowning.
But muddy pools full of cow dung are the bees knees.

Got an abundance of those nearby, also noticed they quite like visiting damp stones washed by the burn.

 

[Arfermo]

Don't need to give mine water as I have a stream running 50 yards down the length of my rear garden. In passing, I attended a course on beekeeping run by the Chairman of a BKA i used to be a member of many years ago. This 'expert' said it was essential to provide ones bees with water so I mentioned my stream and that my bees flock to it when they need a drink - or whatever (to pee?). His amazing, and naturally thoroughly researched, response was that 'bees don't like cold water'. Bloody clown despite having been a senior teacher in a technical academy and frequently on TV!! See why I resigned my membership?

 

[Malcolm Stamp]

I had a problem with my bees going next door and being a nuisance and even clogging the flue of their condensing boiler. The solution was a plastic trig full of water, some floating wooden blocks and a very cheap solar fountain. This is now the star attraction for the bees, their version of the Costa Del Pigging Sol.

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

By the look of the poll, I think many on here believe that their bees never leave the confines of their back gardens to forage

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

I wonder whether it may be appropriate, or effective, to place a small amount of honey (or honeycomb, etc) in a suitable shallow container which is placed in the middle of the desired watering place. It seems that bees are very successful in locating even small amounts of honey

Exactly - surefire way of triggering a robbing frenzy in the locale of the 'bait' source.
You'll have every bee and wasp in the area coming to explore the new food source.
And let's not talk about the possibility of disease spread.

 

[user 819]

I wonder whether it may be appropriate, or effective, to place a small amount of honey (or honeycomb, etc) in a suitable shallow container which is placed in the middle of the desired watering place.

.

 

[user 819]

Tbh I see no need to supply watering stations, as per JBK let the bees naturally forage.
Wet moss, ponds, water courses, puddles, birdbaths, dew and damp earth etc ,etc, there are many plenty of opportunities for bees to forage for water without needing to supply a dedicated source.

 

[Erichalfbee]

I have a pond behind the bees and they use the shallow sunny banks as well as the wet grass that surrounds them