I have two hives. They are at the extreme east side of my yard which is 89 feet wide. The neighbors to the west have a pool with a hot tub that has water falling over rocks from the hot tub into the pool. Now that it has gotten hot, my neighbor has 25-35 bees at a time drinking at the waterfall as there are a lot of flat rocks for them to walk on and drink the water. I have a water source about 15 feet west of the hives. Many of the bees stop there for a drink but others seem to like the waterfall. Any suggestions as to how to keep them from the waterfall. The hives face west. I can turn them to fast east but the entrance would then be about 2 feet from a 8 ft wooden fence. I assume that they would still go to the pool as they would go almost straight up and then head west. Not sure turning the hives any direction would make any difference at this point. Any ideas. I understand my neighbors concern. A few bees is not a problem but 25-35 is too many. I do not want to have to get rid of the hives.
My suggestion would be to make your water source more inviting than the neighbors waterfall. Also if you can find a way to cool the hive down considerably so the bees don’t feel the need to bring back so much water. Maybe you can explain to your neighbor that it will only happen during extremely hot days. This is a bit old fashioned but entice them with a jar of honey. Start a conversation about how honeybees are in trouble & without honeybees we’ll all die.
You could also maybe add a little sugar water in your own water supply to make it more favourable on those hot days
Try a small pump in your water supply so it falls over some rocks. Stagnant water is never as enticing as fresh, flowing water.
Cheers
Rob.
I’ve had the same problem… neighbours dog bowl. Theyve been fine despite their dog being stung a few times.
I’ve put an entrance feeder with water in. It seems to have improved it and they definitely use the water.
My bees are attracted to those blue tarps (sold at Home Depot in the paint section) the water dish on top of that tarp is their favorite.
How can you tell they are your bees?
Lola,
Comments here are good … You need to somehow make your water sources more inviting than the neighbors.
I was lucky ! No outside pools or hot tubs near n I already have a smaller pond with few gold fish n a waterfall. My bees came a couple years after I installed my oasis n water fall. It does work. I see my bees lining up on the pond edge n plants where the waterfall splashes moisture 24/7.
Good luck … Hope you can come up with some way to quickly answer your bee drinking issues.
Ta ta,
Gerald
I just saw this. Might be an easy quick solution.
Great minds think alike. Ordered one from amazon and installed it in my waterer a few days ago. Have lots of rocks for them to land on, nice little solar powered pump and even added sugar water to the mix and still not a single bee has stopped by for a drink. Have seen a wasp or two nearby but not like they are sitting on the rocks keeping the bees away. Will wait another few days and see what happens. Meanwhile they are still congregating at the hot tub. Unfortunately after a few more days the neighbor is going to have to resort to a spray bottle full of soapy water as suggested by Texas A&M.
@Anon I agree. In a lot of the conversations I have read, people assume the bees are theirs. I guess the only way you be sure is if you catch a few of them in a trap and mark them and then go and observe. They could be coming from somewhere else. My Russian sage is a big attractor of the bees, but I don’t actually see them go back and forth directly to the hive. They could be from someone else’s hive.