Why We Make a Bee Watering Station
We live in a time when more and more honey bees are becoming extinct. The rate at which this is happening is alarming, and we have committed to doing what we can to help reverse this problem.
We live in an area where we can practice beekeeping. Over the years, we have gained a lot of experience and learned how to capture a bee swarm to increase the population of our colonies, how to extract honey, and how to protect the hives from predators and damage.
We hope to encourage others to use sustainable beekeeping methods to help promote thriving bee colonies. However, even if you can’t practice beekeeping, you can still make contributions that will help honey bees and other pollinators thrive.
Pollinators need a water source; we can easily provide that on our farm. Anyone living anywhere can create a bee watering station to help!
The Importance of Pollinators
The majority of the flowering plants around the world and the bulk of our plant food sources need pollinators to reproduce. That means all food sources rely directly or indirectly on pollinators for sustainability.
As pollinators travel from plant to plant looking for food in an ecosystem, they spread pollen from plant to plant, allowing the plants to reproduce and thrive.
The plants that pollinators support become food for animals, insects, and other organisms. The ecosystem relies on tiny pollinators like the honey bees we raise on our farm.
We do what we can to improve our soil through soil testing, large-scale composting, and vermicomposting. Even pollinators contribute to soil health by preventing erosion and stabilizing soils, and in turn, healthy soil mutually supports pollinators.
Best Location for a Bee Watering Station
Bees drink water. They work seemingly tirelessly, but they need a fresh, shallow source of water to rest. Watering stations provide both water for bees to drink and a resting place.
Bees need water for other things too. Bees will bring water to their hives to cool the hive down, feed baby bees, and dilute the honey when it becomes too thick.
Adding bee watering stations to your farm provides safe, chemical-free, clean water for your bees and other pollinators you want to attract to your garden.
The best place for your bee watering stations is near colorful flowers and away from the high-traffic areas of your garden.
Ways to Attract Bees to Your Bee Watering Station
Bees find water that smells preferable. They like earthy smells like mud, salt, and moss. If bees do not find your watering station immediately, you can try adding scents to your water.
If the bees congregate at your neighbor’s swimming pool, they are attracted to the chlorine in the water. You may need to add brightly colored pebbles, flowers, herbs, moss, mud, or other organic matter to your bee watering station to attract them to your watering source.
Try adding salt to the water instead of sugar. Adding a little salt to the water often attracts bees. Once they begin using your water source, they will return again and again.
You will not need salt or other scents to attract them once they establish their routine. Just keep your bee watering station filled with water so the bees can depend on your watering station.
How to Make the Station Safe
Bees need a place to rest when consuming the water from the bee watering station. Be sure to allow for a place for the bees to land by stacking up rocks and letting them stick out of the water.
If the water is too deep, the bees may drown, they need a way to crawl out of the water.
Most importantly, do NOT add sugar to the water. Adding sugar causes pollinators to drink the sugar water instead of visiting the plants in your garden for the natural nectar.
Supplies Needed
- 2 Bags of Glass Domes – Choose brightly colored bags of glass pebbles or marbles found at a dollar store or Walmart. Or, gather rocks from your property.
- 1 Shallow Container – You can purchase a cheap plastic dish typically used to line flower pots. Other options include an old pie plate or any shallow dish, a chick waterer with a mason jar attached, a bird bath, or a hummingbird feeder.
- Fresh Water – You will need just enough water to fill the bottom of the container.
DIY Bee Watering Station
- Gather all your supplies.
- Pick your favorite combination of glass domes or rocks and cover the bottom of your shallow container.
- Fill the water just to the top of the rocks. You want some rocks or marbles sticking out of the water so that honey bees have a place to land and don’t drown in your bee station.
- If you plan to use a chick waterer instead of a shallow dish, add the water to the mason jar or plastic waterer first. Then, screw on the tray tightly before flipping it over and adding the rocks or glass dome marbles to the tray portion of the waterer.
- Place your watering station in your garden and around your property add more water as it evaporates.
