Since I’ve been keeping a water source originally intended for birds to bathe, I have been amazed at the number of honeybees, native bees and other pollinators that use it every day.
This video is a typical moment at any time of the day.
https://youtu.be/kPXWbO89yaQ
When I posted this on Facebook, David Mizejewski from the National Wildlife Federation re-posted it to their site, along with the following comment:
“Domesticated honey bees like the ones in the video collect water and bring it back to the hive, where it evaporates and offers a cooling effect on hot summer days. They also use it to dilute crystalized honey back into liquid form so they can consume it. It’s pretty fascinating. Native bees and other insects also need fresh water”.
The bottom line is even if you don’t keep honeybees, all bees, along with other pollinators need a nearby source of water. Considering how scarce water is in many parts of the country, you can make a tremendous contribution to their comfort and survival by providing a clean, reliable source of water, and preferably more than one.
You’ll be surprised how quickly the water draws down. So be sure to keep a daily eye on it and add more as needed. The closer to the rim you can go, the better.
I became so fascinated with my bees and their activity at the bird bath, I took a lot of video of the action. I soon captured a pretty incredible moment as you’ll see here. As one bee struggled for its life to keep from drowning, another jumped in from the side, literally saving the drowning bee’s life while risking its own.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BfT7nu9gGac
The main objection I hear to why people don’t want to keep standing water close to home is the fear of mosquitoes.
Fear not. You have two options:
1. Completely change out the water every 3 days. Mosquitoes need more than that to complete their lifecycle. When you dump and refill water sources before they mature, you break the cycle and prevent them from maturing.
2. use mosquito dunks. They’re floating rings or doughnut like objects that contain B.t, a strain of bacteria that is harmless to all living creatures except mosquito larvae. You can feel confident you are preventing mosquitos from hatching and keeping the creatures you are trying to help keep safe as well. The Material Safety Data Sheet (MSDS), lays out the details if you want to know more.
If you’re not going to change out the water consistently, or just don’t want the burden, use mosquito dunks. You can find them at box stores, garden centers or anywhere lawn and garden products are sold.
About Joe Lamp'l
Joe Lamp'l is the Host and Executive Producer of the award winning PBS television series Growing A Greener World. Off camera, Joe dedicates his time to promoting sustainability through his popular books, blog, podcast series, and nationally syndicated newspaper columns. Follow Joe on Twitter
Beekeeper here. I would like add a few thoughts on bee water stations. I make sure my water stations are in place by mid March or the beginning of April for best results. I am USA zone 6a. I have found that the bees don’t seek out new water locations later in the season. Make sure you place them where you will not be troubled by the bee traffic, because once they find a water source, traffic can be very heavy. My girls found a dog water bowl i had inadvertently left near the front entrance of my house. Their “beeline” went across my front sidewalk, across my driveway, around my garage and back the beehives. This made it challenging to walk in and out the house. It also resulted in alot of bee poop on the cars in the driveway.
Hope, Thanks for your great tips. I love the idea of bee traffic but can see it would be a challenge in the wrong place, ie the front door. 🙂 It’s amazing how even bees are creatures of habit. Have a great year in the garden and thanks for watching.
I heard another cheap and great way to get rid of mosquitoes is to use goldfish.
They eat the mosquito larvae. The same solution can be used for rain barrels.
Hello Joe,
I recently shared this post on the National Honey Board Facebook page and received the following question that I would hoping you could give some insight to:
“Love the cork idea! Are they safe for the bees? Or are there chemies that would harm them?”
Thanks!
While I don’t know for sure, the natural cork is bark and the synthetic corks are soft plastic which the bees are simply landing / resting on. Considering they’re not ingesting parts of the cork, I can’t see that these would be a problem. However, if the question is does it make the water unsafe to drink for the bees, I’d also say likely not. Corks must be food grade so I think that makes these a much better option than some of the polluted junk in waterways that our bees on exposed too beyond our control.
If anyone still has an issue, you can find floating glass balls made to be bee lifesavers here: http://www.glassgardensnw.com/cart/index.php?l=product_detail&p=22
I am glad you and others are keeping water out for Bees, Dragonflies and other insects that need it. I keep a few quartz stones in large planter bottoms(the pots have broken threw the years) and fill them with water. The Bees and others love it and the stones give them a raft of sorts.
Looks like the bees are using the corks as rafts. Do they have another purpose?
No, that is exactly what they are for. A good suggestion since then was to join two corks together with toothpicks, like a floating raft. The toothpicks will keep the corks from potentially spinning. Plus, the picks add another object for bees to grab if they get in the water.
So happy to see this. So often you don’t see a clean continuous source of water provided for the bees, even by bee keepers. And its needed and used all year long. We noticed our bees will pass by a bucket of water that was larger, which meant it was emptied less frequently, to get to the water that we emptied and refilled with fresh water daily. So we make certain that the water is fresh daily. The honey is always a clean light golden color that is always commented on, along with comments of it being the best honey they have tasted. We keep hearing it and we feel certain its because of the clean, close water source provided.
I understand about mosquito dunks, I’ve been using neem crumbled leaves in standing water. Are they safe for my butterflies and bees?
PLEASE REPLY
Thank You
Steve Lohn
sl.rainforest@gmail.com
Hey Steve. I think you’ll be interested to hear what Dr. Jeff Gillman (author, professor and horticulturist) had to say when I sent him your question for comment. Here you go:
“It’s a marginally effective fungicide and insecticide that is toxic to beneficials and aquatics. It also has more human toxicity than I’m comfortable with (not extremely toxic, but has shown some issues). Yes, it is toxic to all insects that I know of”.
So there you go. Don’t use it in standing water or otherwise in our opinion.
No need to bury the music brother, Boston has a lot to say. I’m sure their are others you’d like to share, and that we’d like to hear.
Great rescue video!
Larry
Thank You for caring enough to post this ! I do empty my birdbaths and other water collecting things every few days…But now I will set up my birdbaths for the bees ! I never thought of the importance of water for the bees !
Thank You Again !
PS…I’m sharing this on my 2 team I lead on SparkPeople !