At our bee meeting last Monday I saw an example of a waterer. The fellow drilled 4 evenly spaced 1/2" holes near the top of a 5 gallon bucket. He then inserted two pieces of 1/2" nylon rope through the holes and left about 6" stick out. He said nylon worked well because it didn't decompose. The rope went to the bottom of the bucket to get all of the water out. He said you did get drips at the end of each piece. He said he liked to keep a top on to keep birds from using it as a bath. I thought that would work well in the desert.
Using a floor mat as a water source
A next door neighbor where I have a couple of hives mentioned yesterday that he had laid a floor mat over the cinderblock wall to dry. It had gotten soaked with water when they had some sort of leak in the building.
He told me that during the afternoon the bees had completely covered it, sucking up water. I keep a pan of water near the hives full of water and pine straw, but this colorful mat was much more attractive. It was brightly colored, and was medium high nap, between those flat entrance mats and a fluffy bath mat.
Here in the desert it doesn't take long for water to evaporate, but the idea of a soaked carpet or mat as a water source is kind of interesting. It eliminates the drowning problem, it can be hung up high, and it seems the bright colors attract the bees. Food (or water) for thought.
He told me that during the afternoon the bees had completely covered it, sucking up water. I keep a pan of water near the hives full of water and pine straw, but this colorful mat was much more attractive. It was brightly colored, and was medium high nap, between those flat entrance mats and a fluffy bath mat.
Here in the desert it doesn't take long for water to evaporate, but the idea of a soaked carpet or mat as a water source is kind of interesting. It eliminates the drowning problem, it can be hung up high, and it seems the bright colors attract the bees. Food (or water) for thought.
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Good idea, my first thought was salt off the boots was attracting them till I read where you were at lol.
Thanks for this post jbraun! I was planning on heading out Friday and purchasing several poultry waterers, but now will try this idea. Was the rope he used the standard white nylon rope? Did he say whether the bees utilize all of the 6" length or just attack the drips at the end?
At our bee meeting last Monday I saw an example of a waterer. The fellow drilled 4 evenly spaced 1/2" holes near the top of a 5 gallon bucket. He then inserted two pieces of 1/2" nylon rope through the holes and left about 6" stick out. He said nylon worked well because it didn't decompose. The rope went to the bottom of the bucket to get all of the water out. He said you did get drips at the end of each piece. He said he liked to keep a top on to keep birds from using it as a bath. I thought that would work well in the desert.
You can make a variation of a waterer for plant - dip one end of the mat into a bucket and capillary action should keep the mat wet.
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