The Cellar - April 21st, 2015: Bee Waterer

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- - April 21st, 2015: Bee Waterer (http://cellar.org/showthread.php?t=30813)

April 21st, 2015: Bee Waterer

Did you feed the cat?
Yes, Mom.
Did you walk the dog?
Yes, Mom.
Did you water the bees?
Yes, uh, what?

Quote:

A single bee tends to at least 2,000 flowers daily, with their tiny wings beating 10,000 times per minute, carrying pollen, and dramatically assisting our food supply. All that work makes the bees thirsty, especially on a hot day.
Bees need access to safe water sources, they often risk drowning in birdbaths or being eaten at rivers and lakes among birds, fish, frogs and other wildlife.

Tah Dah! (French horns) The Bee Waterer!

http://cellar.org/2015/waterbees.jpg

Quote:

One solution to this problem is to add marbles or pebbles to a bowl or pan and then add water. The marbles give the bees a spot to land so they don’t drown when they come to drink.

link

I had no idea. I like it.

There have been a couple big fat bumblebees hovering in the same general spot by the side of my house when I get home in the late afternoon over the last several days. I can't figure out why. I don't see any blossoms near there, and I don't think they are carpenter bees looking for a place to chew into my house.

There is a porch roof with dark asphalt shingles pointed directly at the sun that's low in the sky. Maybe it's warm there and they like that.

And interestingly enough, I watched (and video recorded) two birds mating on a branch in the maple tree right there too. They were also building a nest in our covered gutters at the edge of that roof. There was a one inch gap at the end of the gutters they were using to get in there. I got the ladder out and pulled about a basketball sized clump of nesting material out of the gutter before I closed that gap with hardware cloth. Birds are cool, but the gutters have a job to do and they can't do it when they are stuffed with straw. I hope they build a nest somewhere else before those eggs are ready to be laid. What's the gestation period for a bird to form an egg? They had sex on Friday.

I'm allergic to bees/wasps/hornets. I ain't doing nothing to keep 'em around my house.

Stay thirsty, my friends.

I have multiple water dishes around for my bees, plus a small water feature/pond with a solar fountain for aeration. I put water hyacinth in the pond for them to rest on.