Summer/winter water sources

[Cindi]

I was able to finally get wonderful help on how to attach images, so the place where the water source actually begins should show up below.  I have an interesting way for providing water to my bees, summer and winter.  We have a inground swimming pool and the bees gathering on the river pebble deck is what had prompted my method.  The apiary is situated on an elevated part of my property, on the west side it remains level, on the eastern side the land slopes significantly.  There had always been a natural, very shallow wide ditch type affair, which drained any runoff slowly at the lower part southward, eventually seeping into a deeper ravine.  It may sound rather confusing, but it is not.  Last year when I (2005) began with beekeeping, I wanted the have better drainage below the slope on the eastern part of the beeyard so I could plant bee foraging plants, as many of the ones that I am growing prefer good drainage, perhaps even on the drier side.  This very shallow ditch I worked with, making it about one foot deep and it runs almost about 1/2 the width of my property.  it is actually quite long and was quite a bit of work.  The water from all the area higher drains into this ditch and flows rather freely in the winter time.  We live in quite a rainy climate, so it is always reasonably fresh water.  I keep a garden hose on trickle all year long now, it trickles down the side of the bank of this ditch and ensures the one side of the ditch is always moist.  The bees flock to this side of the ditch and drink their hearts out.  It has removed any problems whatsoever around my pool and this is good.  The water seeps in the summer all along the ditch and the ditch itself is shallow water muck and the bees suck water all along the ditch as well.  You should hear the ditch in the summertime, there are so many bees that the area is alive with the sound.  The picture that I am attaching is one of me standing above, loooking straight downwards at the beginning of the ditch where I keep the hose.  This method for me is great.  We do not experience alot of deep freezing in wintertime, so there is not a problem with the water freezing, not to say that it might not freeze.  But for surely it is a great thing in the summer, it is close to the beeyard and they love this fresh running water.  Hope the picture says 1,000 words.  Cindi

[Brian D. Bray]

Get this: In that name of ecology the Washington Department of Fisheries and Game, made the developer next to me "open up" a stream for fish migration.  The only problem was that the stream does not run year around from a point of a spring just below my property to the lake a 1/4 mile back in the woods.
In the process of "opening up" the stream they lowered the surface level of the spring (and my well as well) and turned the water retention pond into a year around body of water, now home to Ducks, red wing blackbirds (in season) and crawdads.

Go Figure.  After rains that flooded most of the area the stream is now running again until March or May when it will dry up again.

[Cindi]

Get this: In that name of ecology the Washington Department of Fisheries and Game, made the developer next to me "open up" a stream for fish migration.  The only problem was that the stream does not run year around from a point of a spring just below my property to the lake a 1/4 mile back in the woods.
In the process of "opening up" the stream they lowered the surface level of the spring (and my well as well) and turned the water retention pond into a year around body of water, now home to Ducks, red wing blackbirds (in season) and crawdads.

Go Figure.  After rains that flooded most of the area the stream is now running again until March or May when it will dry up again.

That does not sound very good now does it?  The poor fish that thought that they might have a nice stream to carry on with.  I love the call of the red winged blackbirds, they are a welcome sound I look forward to every spring.  They are beautiful.  We went crawdad fishing this summer with the kids in a stream that had some deep pockets in it, just down the road from us.  It was fun, we probably caught about 20 of them, we were going to eat them, but then looked at the size and thought that it would be too much work to do anything with such tiny creatures, so we threw them all back and went on our merry way.  The kids sure did have alot of fun setting the little crab traps and all, we had taken a picnic and made a hot summer day cooled right off, sitting by the stream.  Oh for the summertime.  Cindi.