You can lead a bee to water but you can't make her drink

[Nickod]

My bees are ignoring water placed close to the hive entrance, with bits of wooden peg floating in a bowl for them to land on. Instead they fly to the back of the house where I have been sowing seeds in small seed trays, and they are apparently drinking (invisible) water from the top of the seed tray. The seed tray has been perpetually damp the last 4-5 days.

Or are they drinking?

The seed trays have had little bits of Leylandii falling into them from a neighbours garden, blown off by the wind. Are my bees extracting sap from these bits to make propolis?

At any time there are between 3 and 10 bees there, each staying about half a minute. Some are bum waggling like mad.

Interested to know what you think.

I'll post an image, when I meet the criteria, but there are some pictures of this in my album.

 

[For want of a better word]

They are probably after the Boron... or other tasty trace elements in the compost!

 

[Cazza]

Make sure the water supply you would prefer your bees to use is in full sun and then pop some twigs into it or make a compost tray especially for them. Then perhaps you CAN make her drink.
Cazza

 

[oliver90owner]

I would not be surprised if the back of the house faces south?

 

[REDWOOD]

Bees don't like tap water and my cats won't drink it

 

[Nickod]

I would not be surprised if the back of the house faces south?

Spot on. The back of the house does face South.

 

[Nickod]

Bees don't like tap water and my cats won't drink it

That may have been part of the issue originally, but the water has been replaced completely during the last week's rainfall. Maybe they remember it tasted bad and haven't tried again?

 

[Polyanwood]

I have a garden centre at the back of one of my apiaries and the owners don't like my bees drinking there. To keep the peace I tried putting water sources in the apiary, but in the end I gave up because I was worried about them pooing in it flying overhead, and then imbibing nosema spores. I made some umbrella type structures to protect them, but I struggled with them getting blown over.

 

[Swarm]

If it's South facing, their sources will be warmed nicely for them and stuff like compost, moss, and even small pools in creases on polythene bags, pool covers and the like are very popular. My home site has four ponds and a stream, I sometimes see them around the marginals but far more collect from the former places.

 

[itma]

Bees prefer drinking from moss or mud rather than open water.
They don't seem to appreciate 'clean' water. In fact smelly is good, or perhaps just easily found.
And they do like it warm, in the sun.

And most of all, they don't like it close to the hive. 20 metres or more away seems to be enough.
But you could try an 'entrance feeder' with very dilute syrup to get them aware, if not interested.

However, not all bees read the same books...

 

[Nickod]

I hadn't thought about the issue of them pooing where they drink. Maybe their preferred source of water has to be far enough away from the hive that this is unlikely - and off of their main flight paths. Where they are coming to fits all of this as well as being close to a south facing wall.

 

[MandF]

Bees generally have an area around the hive where they do their business. They do not forage inside that area. That might explain why they ignore the water, if its too close to the hive.

 

[NoBBy]

On our allotment the Bees love the top of a big pile of horse muck. I have also found that capillary matting you get at garden centres is good. Put a bowl or similar on the ground and drape the matting into it.

 

[user 6228]

Bees prefer drinking from moss or mud rather than open water.
They don't seem to appreciate 'clean' water. In fact smelly is good, or perhaps just easily found.
And they do like it warm, in the sun.

And most of all, they don't like it close to the hive. 20 metres or more away seems to be enough.
But you could try an 'entrance feeder' with very dilute syrup to get them aware, if not interested.

However, not all bees read the same books...

got them drinking 2 ft away from oasis in a tray and from a pond 10m...
different books

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

Bees generally have an area around the hive where they do their business.

Usually my vehicle!
With a stream 200 yards to the East which meets a river 300 yards to the South I've never really thought about drinking water for the bees but yesterday I went to move a sheet of polythene which had been blown against the hive stands when I was away and which now has a few small pools of water and I disturbed a pile of bees watering - it must be the drought (whatever that means)