Bee's Loving Mulch

[NasalSponge]

My bee's have fallen in love with the mulch in my strawberry bed...they gather there 15 to 20 at a time. Question....could they be gathering propolis from it??:scratch:
Thx
Mike

[RayMarler]

Propolis comes from collection of plant rosins. I'd suspect they are getting water thru the mulch which will be rich in organic nutrients. I've seen bees in wet mulch myself, and just assumed it was giving them water with nutrients that they needed.

[NasalSponge]

I think you are right.....I watched them for awhile and they just sat there with there butts pulsing in and out.
Thx

[bnatural]

I'd suspect they are getting water thru the mulch which will be rich in organic nutrients. I've seen bees in wet mulch myself, and just assumed it was giving them water with nutrients that they needed.

That would be my guess. Bees prefer to get water from the swampy edges of ponds and other bodies of water, where, for one thing it's safer. They are not like water skimmers - if they fall in they drown. After a good rain, they are almost always at the edges of the drying puddles along my farm road sucking up mineral-rich water. All that delicious cow manure mixed in with the mud - mmmmmmmm.

Bill

[Dr.Wax]

What kind of mulch is it?

[NasalSponge]

Not sure....pine maybe