Don't know about the expert tag, but try putting a large sponge in a
birdbath or large bucket. The bees
 
seem to like landing on it.  I guess its because they won't drown, and can
get all the water that they
 
want, just like taking necter from a flower,  WALT, S.C. Retirement Heaven.
 
----------
> From: Richard Blohm <[log in to unmask]>
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: Re: Bees and Water
> Date: Thursday, May 01, 1997 6:58 PM
>
> In a message dated 97-05-01 15:02:38 EDT, you write:
>
> << Help wanted.  Calling all experts. . Has anyone successfully tackled
the
>  problem of bees ignoring the water supply in the apiary and going
instead to
>  a neighbour's pond?  Although I keep a supply in the apiary all the year
>  round (bees here collect water as early as January) many of my bees
prefer
>  my pond some forty yards away.  Luckily I have no near neighbours to
worry
>  about.
>  An acquaintance has just come to me with this problem.  His neighbour is
at
>  present sympathetic but is worried about his children getting stung and
is
>  expecting the beekeeper to work a miracle and stop all the bees from
>  visiting the pond.  The bees have a supply well laid out and warmed by
the
>  sun in the apiary.
>  Is there any way in which the apiary supply can be made very attractive
or,
>  alternatively, the pond supply made unattractive (there are no fish to
worry
>  about)?
>  It is a situation which arises every year but I have never been faced
with
>  it and do not know the answer.  If I can get a number of replies,
helpful or
>  otherwise, I can at least print them out for passing to the neighbour to
>  show that we have taken the matter seriously and consulted beekeepers
from
>  all over the world.                      Sid P.
>   >>
> Good question Sid!
>
> I know a few beekeepers who lost the use of apiary sites, all because of
the
> water problem.
> I read that if you spray vineagar around where the bees are taking water
it
> will act as a repelant, I haven't tried it myself, but it sounds like it
> might help.
>
> Good Luck
> Rich Blohm, NY