Spending money on a fancy water dispenser for bees

[Polyanwood]

Hello
Looking for advice please. I have a contract to keep bees on a industrial site. I have about 12 colonies there. They would like to buy a fancy watering system for the bees to stop them going in the adjoining koi ponds. I have said there is little point and sent links of how to make something and advised to leave a tap dripping, but they want something fancy to show their neighbours they are acting on their concerns. Does this exist?

 

[Erichalfbee]

Humming bird feeders? (not syrup though)
And welcome back

 

[Newbeeneil]

I would put a barrel full of water with a bag of manure in it with a block of wood floating in it. My bees love the water from the horse manure piles in their field.
Getting your bees to change their source may take a bit of time so you have to give them an attractive alternative.

 

[Wilco]

Hello
Looking for advice please. I have a contract to keep bees on a industrial site. I have about 12 colonies there. They would like to buy a fancy watering system for the bees to stop them going in the adjoining koi ponds. I have said there is little point and sent links of how to make something and advised to leave a tap dripping, but they want something fancy to show their neighbours they are acting on their concerns. Does this exist?

Tell them it's an example of integrating ecosystems and from a sustainability/eco perspective it is worse for the planet to build something extra that isn't needed. Or have them build a wildlife pond...

 

[Ian123]

Check out some chicken feeders am sure there will be some expensive urban chicken feeder type that could be adaptedRather like Flo Hives or the beeegloo thingy. It’s also not uncommon I’ve had to do similar to show willingness before.

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

Koi ponds could have been designed for bees to take water from.
Had a resident near my former BKA's who had spent thousands on a bespoke and rather awesome Koi pond for his garden. It became a magnet for any bee in the vicinity. I constructed a shallow water bath with stones in at the apiary using the top end of a discarded radome just to show him we'd made the effort, they still went for the koi pond.

 

[Nighthaunt]

Second the chicken feeder - I use a 12L capacity one with gravel.

 

[user 20297]

I would put a barrel full of water with a bag of manure in it with a block of wood floating in it. My bees love the water from the horse manure piles in their field.
Getting your bees to change their source may take a bit of time so you have to give them an attractive alternative.

Although many of us have seen that bees like (prefer?) the sorts of water sources that wouldn't be an obvious first choice for humans, as far as I know, people who keep Koi carp are very keen on high-tech filtration and keeping the water as "pure" as possible.

 

[Swarm]

I've never seen bees on my Koi pond or my wildlife ponds. Best water source I've seen is a few tons of sand, there are literally hundreds around the base of the pile where it is always damp and warm.

 

[Newbeeneil]

I agree. So providing them with a more attractive source may work very well.

 

[Wilco]

Although many of us have seen that bees like (prefer?) the sorts of water sources that wouldn't be an obvious first choice for humans, as far as I know, people who keep Koi carp are very keen on high-tech filtration and keeping the water as "pure" as possible.

That's because the Koi are constantly defecating in it and excreting nitrogenous waste too! The water isn't pure, they're just stopping waste build up as that would lead to dead fish.

 

[enrico]

I've never seen bees on my Koi pond or my wildlife ponds. Best water source I've seen is a few tons of sand, there are literally hundreds around the base of the pile where it is always damp and warm.

Blimey! This is my wildlife pond 25 metres from my hive. It is like this all round the edge!

 

[pargyle]

My wildlife pond is a magnet for my bees ... although I do find them sucking up water from all sorts of other sources around the garden ... they certainly seem to prefer rainwater contaminated with any sort of organic matter. The also seem to prefer taking water where they are able to be close to the moisture but not actually sucking up water directly .. I see a lot on the moss around the edge of the pond and on the cut stems of last years loostrife.

The problem the OP will face is that you cannot force them to go to the water source you provide - they may use it they may not ....

 

[Erichalfbee]

Same here. Wildlife pond in apiary wins all the time. The tree bees in the garden use the garden pond

 

[Nannysbees]

I've never seen bees on my Koi pond or my wildlife ponds. Best water source I've seen is a few tons of sand, there are literally hundreds around the base of the pile where it is always damp and warm.

I have a wildlife pond with ramps for any hedgehogs that get into difficulty, bees are regularly on it

 

[Erichalfbee]

It helps if the pond has some sunshine so it’s warm.
Bees won’t bother with a cold pond.

 

[Swarm]

I have a wildlife pond with ramps for any hedgehogs that get into difficulty, bees are regularly on it

I had three ponds in my garden, all in full sun, two with Koi and a wildlife pond that is always full of Newts. One of the Koi ponds was damaged so I have altered it to become another wildlife pond. I had bees at home for years and never saw any at the pond edges but I saw loads on the pots or even compost bags. There is a perpetual pile of sand at the farm and the base is always damp, even in Summer, there are hundreds on it.

 

[Polyanwood]

Thanks for ideas. They want to do something highly visible. I think the pond would be best, but will put the chicken feeders to them too. Would you put salt in the water? I think they put salt in with the koi which seems an attractant.

 

[BILL.HEARD]

My bees tend to favour local cow pats with water sitting in the top, not so handy in large towns I guess.