November 21, 2006 - You Must Water the Bees
Just like any livestock or pets, beekeepers must water their bees. We are fortunate to have a number of natural water sources available [a creek, a pond, etc.], but in the heat of summer, there still needs to be fresh water made available to the hive.
If fresh water is not available, the bees will go in search of it - as in a pet's water bowl, a child's wading pool, bird baths and so on and so forth. Given that there are easily an estimated 65,000 bees that cohabitate in an active hive - one would surmise that providing a bucket of water for the hive isn't that difficult nor such a bad idea.
A bucket full of fresh water with a couple of pieces of wood floating will give the bees access to fresh water enabling them to keep the hive cool during the extremely hot days of summer.
Honey Bee Blessings,
Comments
November 21, 2006 - Very Intresting
Posted by Musketman
Could you rig up a automatic fill float valve and have water piped right into the hive itself via a small hose, like a drip pan always filled at the bottom by the entrance?
Never knew this about bees, thanks for the insight...
November 21, 2006 - <i>Untitled Comment</i>
Posted by harriettejacobs
Good question. No, you would not want the water piped into the hive - though like winter supplemental feeding, you could possibly have a jar w/fresh water. I'll be sure to introduce the hive, its parts and how winter feeding is done with my next post. There are a number of great diagrams available at some of the Bee Resources listed in my right hand column.
Thanks for stopping by and leaving a comment.
Harriette
Edited by harriettejacobs on November 21, 2006 at 12:31
