I put out a 5 gal bucket in the yard for my bees to clean after I extracted honey. I went out to observe them after they zeroed in on it and watched as one worker got stuck upside down on the side of the bucket. Her wings were glued to the bucket with the honey and she couldn't break free. I was utterly amazed to see another worker fly over and land right on top of her. They looked like they were going to rumble but the rescuer actually rotated her upright, breaking the seal the other one's wings had on the side of the bucket. The previously stuck bee went on to clean herself and fly away. She probably would have been done for otherwise. WOW! Sometimes I am just amazed at how they work together!
Here's a cool thing to try if you wanna see Bee's grrom each other, Spray sugar water on them, they will clean each other....very cool!
Oh, btw..don't drown them..hehe
Never, ever place a bucket with honey in the bottom out in the open upright or you will have hundreds if not thousands of dead bees in the bottom, place it on its side or just have a very small amount of honey at the bottom but not more than say 1/8 of an inch, they drown while trying to get the honey if there's too much at the bottom, its a death trap.
...JP
Yes, thanks, JP. Another beekeeper told me to do that. I laid it down on the side and took a rubber spatula and spread what was in the bottom out along the wall of the bucket. As it sat in the sun for a little while more pooled on the bottom so I scooped it out and dripped it on the outside of the bucket, which was a big hit. There were a lot more visits to the water garden that afternoon.
I can imagine how a many would drown if there was any sizable leftovers and the bucket was upright, because there was just a little bit that still pooled along the inside as it all settled out and a few did get stuck and die. Any suggestions on how to prevent that, outside of not giving them the pot to lick? Seems like a waste to wash out the buckets when there's still leftovers to recycle.
could pour any excess in a shallow pan like a cookie sheet or just give them a little at a time.
...JP