Drinking from old slimy pond

[BBG]

Despite a five gallon drum of good water upturned in a tray closeish to the hives, my bees are ignoring it and drinking from an almost dry pond with slimy weed, twenty yards away.

Will there be any problems due to this.

Can I do anything to attract them to the clean water.

Thanks in anticipation.

 

[barratt_sab]

Bees seem to like filthy water - ours ignore all sorts of decent water supplies and insist on going to the stagnant water trough that has all sorts of decaying matter in it.

 

[RoseCottage]

They have a strange habit of choosing their own water sources...

They like to get to moisture (like a lot of ladies they dip their toe in at the edge) so does your water source have a shingle or woody bee size shoreline?

Perhaps you could put a water slide and a diving board up at yours and try to attract some rugged drones...that might draw them in...

Sam

 

[viridens]

As in most things, bees are cantankerous about where they drink, and creatures of habit.. I would hope that evolution has equipped bees with some ability to judge water quality, and 'slimy weed' does not mean that the water is bad.

Having said that, I know of a beek who's bees had for many years drunk en masse from a wet patch on a grassy bank, assumed to be a spring. It turned out to be seepage from a neighbour's septic tank. Neither the bees or their owner suffered any ill effects, in fact both were prolific, and I remember that the honey tasted very good too.

 

[Winker]

The more dirty the watter the better. I have a lot of horses around my way and the bees love to sit on piles of horse poo and drink the mosture from that.

 

[viridens]

Maybe these 'dirty' sources of water contain minerals or trace elements important for bee health? -As usual, more research required.
P.S. Perhaps they just like the taste!

 

[SixFooter]

I set up a few water sources year one which the bees ignored. Second year they all came into service as the water went green.

 

[Chris Luck]

As I've mentioned before, they really like the places outside where I pee.

Chris

 

[CB008]

Despite a five gallon drum of good water upturned in a tray closeish to the hives, my bees are ignoring it and drinking from an almost dry pond with slimy weed, twenty yards away.

Will there be any problems due to this.

Can I do anything to attract them to the clean water.

Thanks in anticipation.

Mine insist on drinking from a hot tub (full of bromine and other chemicals) despite giving them good clean water. I cannot stop them !

 

[djg]

From my rooftop, I can't detect the water source(s) for my hives.

However, I like to think that the Thames at Tower Bridge caters for most of the drinking preferences described in the previous posts on this thread, even taking into account huge improvements in water quality.

Swimming at low tide under Tower Bridge is my wife's flatcoat retriever's best fun...and she has swum in the river there for years with no ill effects. So I guess, it's just we human beings who prefer water you can see through.

 

[greatbritishhoney]

As I've mentioned before, they really like the places outside where I pee.

Chris

That could get nasty if they are really thirsty

 

[DarynWebb]

I've seen bumbles drinking dogs wee in the garden but never seen a honey bee doing it though.

 

[For want of a better word]

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and I thought you were talking about my old local pub !!



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[BBG]

Thanks all for the reassurances.

Looks like it's diving boards, six packs and hope they know what they're doing!