Easy idea for "bee bath"

[tillie]

I found this idea in Birds and Blooms - it's a way of planting around a bird bath.  You use two plant saucers - one very large and the other smaller.  I put soil in the larger saucer and planted some flowering plant that hangs down in it.  The inner saucer is filled with water, a drop of Chlorox, and a piece of brick paver as a landing area for the bees.  It's right behind the hives and they love it.....although we had near drownings yesterday in the high winds - apparently drinking bees were blown from the landing area into the water.

Here's a picture of the bath and one of the bees that I saved from drowning!

http://beekeeperlinda.blogspot.com/2006/05/lifesaving-bees.html

Linda T in Atlanta  :)

[Robo]

Pretty nice.   You might want to consider filling the inner bowl with play sand to make it like the wet beach after a wave comes in.  Then you will have no drowning.  I have a dogloo dog water that I have filled the bowl with sand.  The bees seem to like sucking the water out of the wet sand.  Perhaps they are getting some trace minerals.....

[tillie]

Hmmmm, I really like it that the birds come as well -

maybe I could put sand in half of the inner saucer and leave a pool in the other half - the bees could still drown, but the smart ones could use the sand and the birds would still be happy -

from a Darwinian point of view, the smarter - wise to the water bees would survive happily sucking sand and the dummies who went for the pure water or who leaned into the water from the brick center would meet their maker.

Of course given that the queen is the only fertile one in the bunch, it wouldn't change evolution, now, would it.

BTW, how does she get water since I understand that she only leaves the hive to swarm?

[Jack Parr]

If you spend some time observing bees suck up water you should notice that they like dry feet. Their feet. A water hose with a slightly leaking nozzle on concrete is a good bee waterer. The bees land in dry spots around the damp/wet area and tank up. I do have 5 gallon buckets of water with a foam float that I place at hives not near the water hose.  The sand idea sounds good.

They, the queen court, take care of the queen's every need and desire. Since the colony contains no jesters I fill in, on a part time basis of course. After all, I want dem bees aworking and not alaffin' all da time

[Finsky]

If you have a good normal a hive, queen lays 2000 egs pevery day. It will be period when those will 2000 bees die every day. In 10 days 20 000 dead bees and you saved two.  - I like to save bees from water,  what ever statistic says.    :P

[TwT]

if you don't want to use sand, I have seen the with rocks from a drive way in the Waters's and they worked fine

[tillie]

Well, Finsky, your stats are sobering, but hey, I used to be a Red Cross Water Safety Instructor and Senior Life Saver, so it was really hard to see the little bees floating in the pool.....it was all I could do to hold myself back from giving them mouth to mouth resuscitation!

Linda T in the USA

[Jerrymac]

.it was all I could do to hold myself back from giving them mouth to mouth resuscitation!

Yeah... You might want to watch that. Could get a fat lip out of the deal.