Bees drinking water ?

[Bob D.]

I've been feeding my bees a 1:1 syrup for a few weeks now due to the inclement weather and in the hope that it will help new colonys increase and store food for winter.

Today I've seen bees from both hives drinking water from fallen rain drops. Not observed this before. Why are they doing this? Both the standard answers I'm aware of "water to cool the hive" and "to break down crystalised honey" don't seem to make sense given the current conditions.

 

[Finman]

.
Basic is that bees need water to make feeding milk to larvae. That is why they fly even on little rain.

 

[enrico]

Nothing unusual. They need fresh water. Better for them to get it off plants rather than smelly drain covers!
E

 

[meetballuk]

your feed is also made from tap water, so they may prefer the naturals stuff?
my dog prefers the rain water to her dog bowl

 

[Nige.Coll]

My bees prefer horse urine over water.



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[Gilberdyke John]

My bees prefer horse urine over water.



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I often see bees come into the stables to drink from the drainage gully - rich in various horse excretions

 

[Millet]

Not being funny or trying to derail this thread but why do bee's attract to dog urine.. my lady friend's little whippet male pee's all over the place.. around pot's/ wall's and planter's but for some reason it attracts bee's.. maybe it's a kidney problem .. ?

 

[For want of a better word]

My native black bees like recycled cider... the NZIs seem to prefer recycled lager!

Nos da

 

[Nige.Coll]

They like the salts in urine .

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[Norton]

Yes they prefer water with trace minerals rather than the sterile tap type.

Here in Cyprus in the summer there is a lack of standing water, other than some Russian's swimming pool, we have to take water to the apiaries.

An apiary of 24 colonies needs about 130 liters every 4 days.

 

[Goran]

Yes they prefer water with trace minerals rather than the sterile tap type.

Here in Cyprus in the summer there is a lack of standing water, other than some Russian's swimming pool, we have to take water to the apiaries.

An apiary of 24 colonies needs about 130 liters every 4 days.

That is in dearth of flow?

Cause we had some higher temps ( 30-40C for a longer period), but with periods of some nectar flow ( honeydew especcially this year) and rarelly was crowded on the water sources ( 2 sites with around 30 colonies). Maybe I gave for a month such qty per apiary site, maybe even less..

I can imagine how flora looks at your place..

 

[Norton]

You can see the situation in the attached.
The water barrels are in the middle of the apiary.

 

[Goran]

You can see the situation in the attached.
The water barrels are in the middle of the apiary.

Mediteraneo.. I almost can " hear loud cricket song and smell conifers in a pics"..

We for now have only summers that hot.

As lower water consumption I use only glass bottles turned upside down.. Sunlight helps also in keeping water clean. So far no visible problems with nosema. Some aditionally put oak bark in water ( as they said prevent nosema also).