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BEEKEEPING LEARNING CENTER => GENERAL BEEKEEPING - MAIN POSTING FORUM. => Topic started by: dfizer on April 29, 2013, 11:31:26 pm

Title: Bees in mud?
Post by: dfizer on April 29, 2013, 11:31:26 pm
Does anyone know why the bees are congregating at a mud hole where drainage water runs out of my yard?  I assume they are drinking water however I really don't know why they don't drink the fresh water that is not tainted at all.  There is a water source that they could easily access and they fly right by it on their way to this muddy ditch.  I have put a pic of it in this post so please offer any insight you may have. 

(http://s17.postimg.org/llcflnwbf/mud_bees.jpg) (http://postimg.org/image/llcflnwbf/)

We are far from a drought here therefore I really cant figure out why the bees prefer the mud as their source.  Might there be something that they eat in the mud?

David
Title: Re: Bees in mud?
Post by: iddee on April 29, 2013, 11:46:24 pm
Minerals in the dirt are leeching into the water. They are after those minerals.
Title: Re: Bees in mud?
Post by: Caelansbees on April 30, 2013, 12:02:26 am
Minerals and electrolytes.  They love funky water for some reason....
Title: Re: Bees in mud?
Post by: don2 on April 30, 2013, 12:15:57 am
They will pass over some blooms to get to others. Same with water, they do like funky water. :shock: :roll:d2
Title: Re: Bees in mud?
Post by: nietssemaj on April 30, 2013, 07:48:43 am
funky, salty, chlorine.

Maybe its more that they don't particularly care for fluoride.
Title: Re: Bees in mud?
Post by: edward on April 30, 2013, 07:57:34 am
Bee thankful that its only mud, sometimes they gather water from much worse places  :-X


mvh Edward  :-P
Title: Re: Bees in mud?
Post by: Michael Bush on April 30, 2013, 09:31:19 am
They can suck water out of the mud with zero risk of drowning...
Title: Re: Bees in mud?
Post by: tryintolearn on April 30, 2013, 10:29:14 am
my bees drink water from an old lawn tractor seat cracked from years of sitting out back
they seem to love water from foam...my brother has an old pool liner that they love to drink what appears to be stagnant water...
i wudnt drink it but i guess in the end i must
Title: Re: Bees in mud?
Post by: Jim134 on April 30, 2013, 11:52:03 am
Bee thankful that its only mud, sometimes they gather water from much worse places  :-X


mvh Edward  :-P

Like horse apples and cow patties  :roll:




                        BEE HAPPY Jim 134 :)
Title: Re: Bees in mud?
Post by: Moots on April 30, 2013, 12:55:24 pm
In addition to all the good replies already given....I also read somewhere that bees will not utilize a "fresh" water source.  Explanation was that they aren't interested in water that doesn't have an odor because they either have trouble locating it or relaying the location information to the other bees.

Have no idea if that's true, but it sounds plausible. Based on everyone's observations of where their bees like to drink, I'm tending to think there's something to it.
Title: Re: Bees in mud?
Post by: BlueBee on April 30, 2013, 01:02:23 pm
Not true, my bees drink from dripping water hoses all the time.  But yes, they also enjoy wallowing in the mudd.  This time of year muddy water is probably a little warmer than fresh water.  Who likes to get their feet cold when drinking?
Title: Re: Bees in mud?
Post by: Moots on April 30, 2013, 01:05:44 pm
Not true, my bees drink from dripping water hoses all the time.  But yes, they also enjoy wallowing in the mudd.  This time of year muddy water is probably a little warmer than fresh water.  Who likes to get their feet cold when drinking?

Blue,
Maybe I should have said "odorless" instead of "fresh"... :)

As I said, I have no idea if it's true, but there is a difference.
Title: Re: Bees in mud?
Post by: BlueBee on April 30, 2013, 01:08:30 pm
Not true, my tap water is odorless  :-D  (Not city water)
Title: Re: Bees in mud?
Post by: iddee on April 30, 2013, 01:13:28 pm
Dang it hurts, but I have to agree with Bluebee.  :evil:

They will take to a leaky faucet very quickly, whether city or well water. They will take what is available, but may make a choice between two sources, and it seems to always be the one we consider the dirtier of the choices.
Title: Re: Bees in mud?
Post by: BlueBee on April 30, 2013, 01:20:49 pm
Dang it hurts, but I have to agree with Bluebee.  :evil:
Thanks iddee, that makes my day  X:X X:X X:X
Title: Re: Bees in mud?
Post by: Moots on April 30, 2013, 01:45:16 pm
As I stipulated  in both my first and second post..."I have no idea if its true"!

However, I can't pass on the opportunity to have a little back and forth with Blue.  :-D

Not true, my tap water is odorless  :-D  (Not city water)

Odorless to you, or odorless to the bees...there is a difference!  :)
Title: Re: Bees in mud?
Post by: RHBee on April 30, 2013, 03:12:17 pm
I see mine getting water from the ditch, the neighbors salt water pool and the little pond I put in the backyard. I have them land on me when I'm working in the yard and sweatting like a pig just to drink sweat. Kinda freaked me out about the sweat thing till I figured out what they were doing now it's pretty fun to watch.
Title: Re: Bees in mud?
Post by: BlueBee on April 30, 2013, 11:28:20 pm
As I stipulated  in both my first and second post..."I have no idea if its true"!

However, I can't pass on the opportunity to have a little back and forth with Blue.  :-D
Don't dig yourself into another hole Moots  :-D   Where's that hole digging emoticon when I need it  :)

Ray, that is funny.  Since becoming a bee keeper I have to make a conscious effort NOT to swat at anything I feel on my skin.  It is a little freaky though when the bees start licking your skin.
Title: Re: Bees in mud?
Post by: Joe D on April 30, 2013, 11:58:35 pm
Yeap, another marvel about beek, having bees land on you, crawl around on your skin, and not get stung.  Yeap, beek is an addiction.       



Joe
Title: Re: Bees in mud?
Post by: Moots on May 01, 2013, 12:41:36 am

Don't dig yourself into another hole Moots  :-D   Where's that hole digging emoticon when I need it  :)


Blue,
Exactly what color is the sky in your little world?  :?

Not only am I not digging a hole, I'm not even near a hole, much less in one!  :)

As a matter of fact, from where I'm sitting, I don't even see a hole!  :-D (I'll graciously pass on all the opportunities to insert an off color joke here!  :evil:)

But I would love some clarification on exactly how you know what your bees can and can't smell.  ;) ....just saying!   :laugh:
Title: Re: Bees in mud?
Post by: annette on May 02, 2013, 12:22:31 am
They can suck water out of the mud with zero risk of drowning...


Somewhere Michael you quoted that bees clean the water somehow. Can you tell me again

Annette
Title: Re: Bees in mud?
Post by: RHBee on May 02, 2013, 02:00:48 am
Ray, that is funny.  Since becoming a bee keeper I have to make a conscious effort NOT to swat at anything I feel on my skin.  It is a little freaky though when the bees start licking your skin.

I don't mind them on my arm or even on top of my head but when they go for the face or ears they get handled pretty quickly. Been stung there to many times,  don't like it much. Ears get pretty puffy and itch like crazy. Those confrontations usually happen when I weed eat in front of the hives. :-D
Title: Re: Bees in mud?
Post by: Michael Bush on May 02, 2013, 10:37:08 am
>Somewhere Michael you quoted that bees clean the water somehow. Can you tell me again

Bees have a filter built into their proboscis and also a filter in their honey stomach.  Between the two they can filter out most of the pollen particles (which sometimes are very small depending on the source).  It's not fine enough to filter bacteria, per se, but most of that tends to be in clumps and probably does get filtered.
Title: Re: Bees in mud?
Post by: annette on May 03, 2013, 09:59:30 pm
Thanks Michael

You also mentioned they filter out the bad stuff down to how many microns??? Something about microns I remember you mentioned in a previous post.

Thanks Annette
Title: Re: Bees in mud?
Post by: Michael Bush on May 06, 2013, 09:08:41 am
>Something about microns I remember you mentioned in a previous post.

I had a book in front of me when I was making that post that had the microns in it... I don't remember off the top of my head and I'm not certain what book it was... but probably Winston's Honey Bee Biology...
Title: Re: Bees in mud?
Post by: annette on May 06, 2013, 10:29:48 pm
Ok thanks Michael

Annette