Salt water swimming pools

[loggermike]

ok I have a situation where some people are complaining about my bees getting water from their pool.

The yard in question has been in use for probably 50 years and is almost a mile away. I haul barrels of water and there is a river a couple hundred yards from the yard.

The bee inspector told me that a salt water pool is so attractive to bees that they will pass up everything to get to it. Can this be true?

[vegasvalet]

I would really questions that. How do they know they are your bees??

[Roland]

GO to the pool in question. Note if they are yellow or black. Requeen to the opposite. Go back next year and see what color they are. If they are not your color, take them to your hives.

Smart money says they are not yours, too far.

Crazy Roland

[Kingfisher Apiaries]

Dust them with sugar...you will be able to tell!
Mike

[loggermike]

It seems a long ways away, but the inspector(who they are now complaining to) told me about the salt water pools being so attractive to bees. Kinda made me wonder.

[Kingfisher Apiaries]

So are you sure the pools in question are salt water? As far as I am concerned... chlorine is (i think) a salt so really saltwater pools are kinda a misnomer...
mike

[loggermike]

I did a bit of research on it(before I went out to load some hives tonight) and I think you are right -they still have some kind of chlorination but use salt for processing . The water isn't salty like ocean water. Maybe there are dissolved minerals the bees need.

Anyway, I have done all I can do to accommodate the complainers but they are getting rude in their demands that I move.

I bet there are alot of beeks that stayed in California this year getting calls lol.

[beemandan]

I moved a yard earlier this spring over pool complaints.
It’s a lose-lose situation. Beeks don’t seem to appreciate the pool owner’s position. The pool owner surely doesn’t accept the beek’s position. Neither party is right….or wrong. No easy way out.
In my case the property owner called me to tell me his pool owning neighbor was complaining. The property owner asked if there was anything we could do. I told him that the simplest solution was to move the bees. The property owner was clearly relieved. I had the bees off of his property the next day. After all, he has to live with those neighbors. And in my experience, albeit limited, any other course of action will eventually turn ugly. Then nobody wins.
Good luck.

[KQ6AR]

You say the pool is a mile away. Water is so important to the bees, I can't believe they would travel that distance when there is a river right by the hives.
Might not be you're bees.

[Thermwood]

You said you haul barrels of water to your bees, why not add some bleach, or whatever they use in the pool to your barrels of water? Maybe then they will not bother the neighbors....if in fact they are your bees they are complaining about.

[Kingfisher Apiaries]

For me we just put up with it...we have a 38k gallon gunite in ground pool. Usually we have about 10-15 bees around the pool at any given time. My dad teaches swim lessons on top of it. My mating yard is 50 yards from the pool...I just cannot move it...after every queen is mated (if not already) I plan to move it...but then will it solve the issue?
mike

[Beetrucker74]

The public needs to start learning to live with Farming in one form or an other. The mentality that we should always be the ones to move any nusence bees is hurting the industry. As was stated that yard has bin in use for 50 years not 50 days. Should the use of a productive yard be given up when there is no proof if injury just people seeing some bees around their pool, how long has the pool bin there bet not 50 years and if it has bin there for years why now? I have bin doing pollination for many years and I hear all the time how some person will move near a farm and then start complaining about farming going on around them, these idiots don't realize that with out the bees or the farms most people would starve.

[Kingfisher Apiaries]

*Been? Not Bin???
mike

[Skinner Apiaries]

you know Horace Bell has a solarium over his pool
side note, I dont like people to know where my yards are. Might not be possible in your situation, but I like yards that are gated, and out of sight... as the saying goes...

[loggermike]

This yard was originally much closer to the the house with the pool. but 3 years ago they began to have bee problems, so i moved it further away and kept water barrels filled. We always put bleach in the water anyways to keep bacteria down. The bees use the barrels.

Last year everything was fine but now its not. Could be other bees closer. Anyways the bee inspector is driving out next week to check it out.

We have a right to farm law here so they cannot force me out. But the landowner can, and I think he is sick of the complaints. So it will likely be another lose lose for the beekeeper.

Nice idea Roland , but my bees are California bees(all different colors of the rainbow) lol.

The real problem, as was mentioned, is too many people moving into the wild and rural areas.At least with the real estate bust here that has slowed.

[loggermike]

Agreed. Out of sight out of mind. The bee inspector said the same thing yesterday. I just couldn't hide this yard. It sticks out like a sore thumb!

[Bob Nelson]

"QUOTE"Originally Posted by KQ6AR
I can't believe they would travel that distance when there is a river right by the hives."QUOTE"

"QUOTE"This, too is true....bees being the efficient creatures they are. But how do you go about determining and proving that they aren't yours?
As I said in an earlier thread, if I were a pool owner and felt threatened by bees at my pool and I couldn't get help via the usual channels, I'd [...................]. I would eliminate the threat to my family and guests in my yard. Then, if they are your bees....you'd know for sure.
In its most likely course....it can get ugly."QUOTE"

I usually do not take issue with what others post but this time I respectfully must. Once bees become trained to any source be it pollen, nectar or water they remain with that source. Until it becomes limited enough they start looking elsewhere, find something better and communicate it with a stronger signal (dance) to the rest of the colony they will continue to utilize that source even with something just as good closer by. Thus are not always the most efficient from a human viewpoint and for 'our needs'. An example of this besides water is crop pollination. Research has shown that bees best pollinate when moved in just a bloom starts so they find the target crop first and work it.

Furthermore, I would caution even suggesting the misuse of a pesticide in a way that would be illegal and harmful to beekeepers. This forum is on the web and anyone searching for bees and swimming pools could very likely find this post and misguidely do something wrong. Let's keep it the least "ugly" we can.

This was a post on a commercial forum and for people who make a living or in part from beekeeping. With this comes the need for a balance of working with those who are affected by our activities, the land owners we have relationships with and resources we have for other options. I have moved bees for both for legimate cause and not. In this situation I too would question whether they are even your bees but with you on their radar screen you have to weigh risk/benefit. Respectfully, Bob Nelson

[loggermike]

Bob, PR is important to us, so we cant afford to seem unreasonable about these things. I too have promptly moved hives when conflicts arose. This is a VERY important yard to us so will see what the county inspector finds. If my bees are the problem, then they will go.

[beemandan]

loggermike, how will the inspector know whether or not they are your bees? Just curious.

[hpm08161947]

A mile to go get and bring back water.... seems a stretch to me. Perhaps the inspector will know if their are other bees in the area. Had a recent discussion with a guy about our bees being in his yard and this yard was over a mile from his house.... I explained to him that there was another guy with 60 hives in a yard just over the woods from him... far more likely to he his bees. Didn't seem to matter to him though, gave him some honey and he went away - have not heard anything sense. The beekeeper nearly always looses in these arguments.