Honey and sticky/drowning bees?

[Kellyb]

I added some some honey to my freestanding sugar syrup and a lot of bees seemed to get the mix all over them and had a hard time flying off.  How efficient are they at cleaning themselves off?  I noticed the regular sugar syrup isn't nearly as sticky.  I put some sticks in the small plate with the syrup so they would have something to climb onto and wouldn't drown. I didn't have any drowning in the middle but several would get sticky wings and feet and were all around the bowl trying to clean off.  What happens once they get that stuff on their wings?

[JP]

You mentioned a plate but you also mentioned a bowl. When open feeding use a plate with a small amount. Anything deeper and they can drown in the syrup.

Never use a bucket with honey in the bottom, you'll wind up with a massacre of dead bees.


...JP

[Kellyb]

Well none of them drowned in the syrup but several of them got coverered in it. I think the honey made it more problematic.  Once they get that stuff all over them can they clean it off or are they done?

[JP]

If they just get it on them, they will usually help each other get clean, but you can expect some to kick the bucket, for mere stress from being so sticky.


...JP

[tlynn]

I use a boardman feeder placed on the other side of my yard from the bees.  Any time I have put pools of liquid out I invariably drown bees.  And as JP says, the first time I extracted I put out the remainder for them in a 5 gallon bucket and killed hundreds.