Haven’t worried about water for my bees as I have a permanent creek less than 150y from my hives. Plenty of rocks, trees, blackberries and grass hanging into the water so no trouble for them to get water.
Found my bees preferred water source while fishing today.
A sandy patch on the edge of the creek that is obviously the preferred watering point for my hives, watched them for a good 10min. There was a constant flow of bees with anything up to 20 or more bees at any one time sucking moisture from the sand. Interesting that despite a few small puddles in the sand only a couple of feet away and a flowing creek 3 feet away they prefer to gather moisture from the damp sand.
In a straight line its probably less than 150m from my hives to the sandy patch, after they had their fill they would take off in the direction of the hives do one small circle gaining elevation and then fly straight through a 3m window in the trees back to the hive.
it makes sense- bees don’t seem to be the best swimmers- I see some fall into my bird bath occasionally and flounder around. The other day I saw a wasp and a bee drinking alongside each other and I thought, ‘Hmm, they seem to get along OK’- next second they bumped into each other and a big fight started where they both fell into the water- I had to rescue the bee. If it is open water they like to creep up on a water source and sip from the edges
Didn’t take any pics of the fish but bumped into this pair while looking for deer this morning, let me get within 5 yards before they bolted back into the blackberries
My girls and I always go on Bee Patrol when we go swimming in the summer, and rescue all the bees who come in for a drink. We find them a nice warm dry spot on the cool deck to dry off and away they go. It is one of their favorite parts of going swimming.
The things you think about once you become a Beekeeper I am going to be more aware of the bees around me And share this new knowledge with my grandchildren. I love that you rescue the bees from the swimming pool
I am going to be more aware of the bees around me And share this new knowledge with my grandchildren. I love that you rescue the bees from the swimming pool 