There was an interesting discussion in Jan/Feb concerning providing
water for bees, in particular to prevent them from using "undesirable"
water sources (such as the neighbour's hot tub, or a runoff pond
contaminated with toxic chemicals).  I'm planning my strategy for
this summer, so I intend to summarize what I've learned from our
discussion, in case this could be helpful to someone else.

My first step was to gather and organize information from all the
responses; the result is below.  It's somewhat repetitive, so unless
you want this level of detail, feel free to skip this posting.
I'll send out an actual summary in the next few minutes.

Specifications of the water source (my suggestion):

  - Be attractive to bees.

  - Be safe for other wildlife also, such as birds and squirrels.

  - Avoid breeding mosquitos, or control the mosquitos.

Timing:

  - Janet L. Wilson: bees loyal to sources chosen in early spring.

  - Przemek Skoskiewicz: start water feeders as soon as hive unwrapped
    from winter, to make sure that bees learn the desired source.

  - Jerry Bromenshenk: make sure that in the spring, the first
    bee-friendly, easy to access, water source is one you provide BEFORE
    any of the neighbor's sources become available.

  - Glenn Woemmel suspects that once the bees pick a watering
    location, they communicate it to their sisters and remain loyal to
    that source.

Watering container/props:

  - Janet L. Wilson: 5 gallon chick waterer, and bees like to sip
    from a surface coated in water ie. a board, sponge, wet rock or some
    cardboard wicking water

  - Przemek Skoskiewicz: Boardman (entrance) feeders.

  - Jerry Bromenshenk: small stock tank of water with floats.

  - Randy Oliver: a porous substrate seems to be preferred, and
    a little solar fountain seems to help -- a bit of movement of
    the water.

  - Gosia and David Liedlich (ABJ December 2017 pp.1260-1261)
    suggested (for tiny apiaries!) the Perky-Pet Mason Jar Wild Bird
    Waterer with sticks in the saucer to prevent drowning.

  - Anna Farneski places flat sections of shale or bluestone
    along the perimeter of a birdbath to allow the bees to cling to the
    rock and walk over to the waterline.

  - Ruth Askren: a half-whiskey barrel filled with water and water
    hyacinth, with a slow drip-line strategically placed to splash the
    water a little bit.

  - Bill Greenrose: old cement birdbath with small landing stones.
    Plastic kiddie pool (for ducks) with floating branches.  Edges of
    ponds and puddles.

  - Aylett Apiaries: bees seem to avoid deep water, preferring
    shallow water such as that provided by a leaky garden hose sprayer.

  - Anne Bennett: I tried a small fountain that was essentially a
    saucer with stones in it, but the stones may have been too smooth;
    the bees preferred the rougher edge of the saucer.

  - Deb Corcoran keeps a birdbath with stones in the middle of it,
    and the bees also sip on a the drips from a leaky rain barrel.

  - Jamie Beyer tried yellow sponges in chicken self-waterers, dead
    leaves in shallow pond water, rocks in shallow pond water, yellow
    sponges in shallow pond water, and floating plastic (needlecraft)
    mesh, with little success, then hit on using crumpled up newspapers
    (non glossy papers) soaking in an inch or two of pond water in large
    saucers.  He notes that the crumpled newspaper high points dry out
    whereas the low points are higher in moisture level, which allows the
    bees to land on something relatively dry and be able to walk to the
    right moisture level.  He intends to try moss in shallow water next.

  - Glenn Woemmel uses a black plastic oil change pan with a few
    rocks in it and a couple of pieces of soggy foam, sitting on a
    table supprt.  This set-up is under a tree, in the shade.

Attractants:

  - Jerry Bromenshenk referred to Janet L. Wilson's work showing that
    bees prefer (in the absence of sugar) a very weak salt water source,
    closely followed by muddy ditch water full of decomposing organic
    matter.  She recommends attracting them to a new source by offering
    slightly sugared water, and then gradually removing the sugar once
    they are using the source.

  - With respect to salt concentration, David Baker has often heard
    suggested a ratio of 1 teaspoon per gallon.  Randy Oliver's quick
    review of the literature suggested 0.5% NaCl, which would correspond
    to 3.3 teaspoons per gallon.

  - John Chesnut quoted a study by Bonoan et al (2017) which concluded
    that honey bees prefer "dirty" water over clean, like salt in their
    water at all times, and like calcium, magnesium, and potassium in
    their water in the fall when pollen is scarce but avoid them in the
    summer when pollen is abundant.

  - Peter Loring Borst quoted Butler (1940), who did *not* find mineral
    preferences other than salt (in a study done in the spring), and
    concluded that bees prefer dirty water because it has a distinct
    odour that makes it easy to remember.

  - Peter Loring Borst quoted Free et al (1983): Synthetic Nasonov
    pheromone lures [...] stimulated bees to consume [...] water and
    sucrose syrup provided in the field [and could also] be used to
    condition bees to collect water provided by the beekeeper near
    the hives.  It seems that lemongrass oil can have a similar effect
    (http://www.columbianamahoningbeekeepers.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/Skep-April16.pdf
    "The Skep", April 2016)  However, Randy Oliver reports trying Nasonov
    pheromone to lure bees to waterers, and DEET to repel them, without
    success.  Jerry Bromenshenk reports on a DARPA semiochemical study
    that found Nasonov pheromone to be attractive to bees only after
    they were conditioned to the scent with a reward (sugar syrup).

  - Richard Cryberg's bees like mud pools and a pond that contains
    decaying plant materials.

  - Przemek Skoskiewicz uses high-mineral well water, with slight salinity
    introduced by a water softener, and this competes successfully with
    neighbouring swimming pools.

  - Jerry Bromenshenk's magic attractant is anise.

  - Randy Oliver had no luck with salt nor lemongrass oil, but bark or
    other organics seem to help, especially aquatic plant roots with
    adhering smelly mud.

  - Anna Farneski has had great success by baiting birdbaths with a
    few drops of bleach for the first few fills.

  - Bill Greenrose: bees tend to like stinky, muddy water, and ignore
    clean chlorinated water.

  - Aylett Apiaries: bees seem to love the dirty water in potted plants.

  - Anne Bennett: my bees love wet soil or compost.  Water with aquatic
    plants in it seems to be more attractive if the plant root are muddy.

  - Deb Corcoran locates her watering device in a large area of catmint
    and other bee attracting plants.  She doesn't cut the old stems down,
    and in late winter, sprinkles some Ultra Bee on them.

  - Jim Jakim accidentally created "battery soup" when a can containing
    batteries for recycling (D cells and at least one lithium) was
    rained in.  The bees drank from it, but showed no interest in the
    clean water he replaced this with.

  - Glenn Woemmel noticed masses of bees getting water from puddles
    around a salt block he has out for deer.

  - John Chesnut's bees like his neighbour's koi pond, which is heavily
    salted to deal with fungal diseases in the expensive fish.
    Randy Oliver looked up the recommended salt concentration for this
    type of use, and found it to be 0.2%-0.4%, which is not far from the
    0.5% often recommended in the bee literature as being attractive to
    honey bees.  A 0.3% solution, midway in the koi range, would be 2
    teaspoons per gallon.

  - James Fischer's bees like the condenser drip pans of rooftop A/C
    units best of all.

Repellents:

  - Jerry Bromenshenk discouraged bees from a particular water source by
    adding Fischer's Bee Quick to it.

The mosquito issue:

  - Randy Oliver points out that many species of fish eagerly consume
    mosquito larvae, and recommends a native or other locally-adapted
    minnow.

  - Mike S also recommends minnows, which should be fed occasionally
    with pet store fish food.

  - Jamie Beyer has no mosquito problem; he states that mosquito larvae
    require some open water so they can attach to the surface tension,
    so his crumpled newspaper technique, which allows no open water,
    doesn't allow this.

  - Bill Greenrose points out that if the water vessel isn't large
    enough to support goldfish, guppies may do just fine, and they will
    control mosquitoes, too.

  - John Chesnut uses "mosquito dunkers" (containing Bacillus
    thuringiensis subspecies israelensis (Bti)) in his landscape
    ponds.  He points out that mosquito-eating fish also eat frog
    eggs, which would be a problem for him.

  - James Fischer points us to the "urban mosquito-fish lily pond"
    pioneered by Mike Barrett based on some ag extension pamphlets found
    at the NYU library.  It is created in half a plastic 55-gallon drum,
    with an aerator pump.


Anne, backyard beekeeper, Montreal.

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