My bees have found the neighbors hot tub. I noticed that they were using the chicken waterer so I thought great no problem. But this weekend my neighbor mentioned that they were going in his hot tub. Some are still using the chicken waterer but some are going to the hot tub.
What can I do at this point?
Are they attracted by the chemicals in the hot tub?
I have three hives. Someone mentioned putting the water where they could crawl to get it. Should I try to set something up for all three hives?
Can I use something to attract them to another water source? Salt, sugar, chlorine?
Thanks,
Rand
A couple of people have mentioned using boardman feeders filled with water, that might help.
Anise. Lemongrass essential oil.
The bees seem to love that hot tub. Maybe it's Chlorine? Who knows.
Rather than try to guess, get a gallon of water from the hot tub and keep it close to the hives, with some pieces of wood floating in it, so they can land and drink. The bees won't have to go so far for whatever it is about that hot tub water that they like so much!
Thanks for the suggestion. My question is how close to the hives? I have a chain link fence about a foot in front of the hives. I noticed that the bees were using the chicken waterer. So I put another waterer right next to the hives within a foot of one hive entrance and two or three feet of the other. Some bees used the new waterer but they used the old waterer more heavily. The old waterer is about 30 feet from the hives. It seems that they like to fly to the water.
They keep going to the place they know. This is why you might have to cover the hot tub for awhile until they discover the other places and forget about the hot tub.