Hello everyone,
I'm curious about water sources. I know my bees get them from somewhere, but I have two questions.
1) Is there any way of finding out their source? Has anyone done this successfully? I'd imagine its difficult to impossible, but I figured I'd pose the question.
2) In a lot of the books I've read there is a comical reference to make sure no one has a swimming pool next to the hives. IF the bees are getting water from a swimming pool what kind of affect will chlorine have on the hive? I'd imagine its toxic, but the again I think I might not be giving the bees their due credit in selecting their water sources.
Thank you!
I keep a shallow dish half full of mulch with water on my patio they seem to like it. The mulch keeps them from drowning.
Water coming from the tap (that is not well water) has chlorine in it already. Does it affect us?
The bees do seem to prefer water with flavor, whether chlorine or something else. The mulch would provide that too. We have plenty of places for them to drink, and they always seem to choose stale/muddied water over fresh. They will even fly up, investigate, and then choose a different pool, if I have just refilled one. Could be the temp in our case. The well water is much cooler (50 degrees)than water that has been sitting in a pool for a while(80-90 degrees).
Allen, lemme ask you this.
Are eggs good for you, or bad for you?
The opinion changes every year. One day its giving you much needed protein, the next day its giving you cancer.
Chlorine probably does harm us...hell...almost everything we use on a daily basis harms us, but I am a 250 lb man, a bee is so much smaller that the littlest things will affect them, and never phase me.
My eggs just clog up my veins. I must have the cancer free chicks.
a lot of the water carried by bees is regurgitated and used to evaporate and cool the hive. it is not all consumed. chances are that there are worse things than chlorine in some of the puddles I've seen them get water from. On the premis of being so much larger and maybe not being affected,I woud bet you consume much more liquid on a pound for pound basis by being a perspiring warm blooded creature.Not to mention your life span is considerably longer than that of the honeybee. :)
Bees often associate smells with their water sources. a drop of vanilla may help them identify a close source of water.
I have a small pond form pond with water plants they frequent,and a small statuary with a pump also attracts them
They seem to be attracted to a pile of manure. I have never seen a cow pie, but which the bees are swarmong all over it.
Quote from: lakeman on June 13, 2010, 06:23:16 PM
They seem to be attracted to a pile of manure. I have never seen a cow pie, but which the bees are swarmong all over it.
That makes for some PREMIUM honey!
Steve
That's not premium honey in my neighborhood. Maybe in middle Georgia? But back on bees getting into nasty stuff, how many times have you seen bees in an old coke can that has been around for a while. They don't have to worry about drowning, they just walk on what ever is floating on top.
my bees in the spring have locked onto the neighbors water garden just after he got it running. I have had them lock onto dog water dishes. It hard to say where they get there water but if you live in town and keep hives at the house you will find out fairly quickly since the neighbor will usually come tell ya. as for chlorine it is such a small dose that it shouldnt harm the bees.
I have heard they are real bad at locking onto salt water swimming pools. I have seen posts where people didnt have any trouble when they was useing chemicals in there pool. But once they switched to salt water they had trouble. I think a lot of where the bees collect water will depend on there mineral needs. I dont know if that has ever been studied in depth. This may be the reason you see them on cow patties
I have many water sources near my bees, but they seem to like the shallow, muddy, frog pool in the horse pasture.
JC
I leave a hose dripping on the asphalt drive and there are bees flying back an forth from the hive all day long.
Quote from: greenbtree on June 14, 2010, 01:38:32 AM
I have many water sources near my bees, but they seem to like the shallow, muddy, frog pool in the horse pasture.
JC
I find that to be true also. My bees at the house have fresh water in the bird baths, a scummy pond, and a fast running stream. They prefer the scummy pond.
I keep bees on many farms and some have runoff ponds that have no running water input. They use these ponds for filling their sprayers, etc. I think the stagnant ponds are collection points for many chemicals and may actually be harmful to bees. Just something to keep in mind.
I have three water buckets with cork floating spread out through the yard. This is the first year they have been using them. I know if I leave the outside faucet dripping the bees will come to that in a heart beat. My guess is the water is fresh, cold, and because its only a drip a safe place.
there are several pools and ponds close to me but i don't want my bees wasting time and energy gathering water. i have water five feet from each hive in a bird bath type setup made from two opposing clay pots with a 20" plastic plant container tray. there's a wooden cross floating in it and four good size rocks. it's amazing how much water they consume.
I have a bird bath filled with 3/4 stone and water. They seem to like it the best. There are usually 50-100 there at any given time. I have two brooks within a 1/4 mile of the hive. Not sure if they use them. I also use boardman feeders with water and placed in a emptry brood box above. They like that too.
I have a 3,000 acre lake within a half mile, so I don't worry about watering them.
live stock ponds, ponds with for fish farms and fishing, creeks year round some with just a trickle and some dry up with pools that last for a little while, irrigation of crops with different methods.
a few times i've had to urinate in the woods and seen honeybees dinking from the puddle. doesn't really make me hungry for honey
Even with numerous fresh water sources right by the hives (livestock water troughs), my bees insist on drinking moisture from my hot tub cover or directly from the hot tub water itself, or they like mucky water that has collected on an old tarp. I think they boggy, mucky water because they can almost stand right in the water to drink.