[TurtleSpider]

We have all seen bees collect urine or blood or even drinking water off cow dung, but what do they do with it? Do they consume it straight away, do they store it and mix it with their honey? Will they only collect urine or blood at certain times of the year, or will they go for it whenever it is available? I am curious.

 

[ffrtsaxk]

My bees have a water source nearby. So, the only times I have seen them drinking urine and sucking water from poop is when there was a lack of pollen available and they were raising brood. I have also noticed that if I have dry pollen substitute out, they leave the urine and poop alone. So, it seems that they may be trying to gather some nutrients from them that they particularly need when brood rearing. I have never seen them storing either or mixing it with honey—not even in my observation hive.

 

[Jack Grimshaw]

Honey bees seek out micronutrients that may not be readily available in pollen.
Rachael Banoan has done research and written about this action.She wrote an article in ABJ in 2017 "Why do bees drink dirty water"
Here is a link to one of her papers.

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0022191017304158