I think I figured out the swimming pool problem.  I have eight hives about sixty feet from a large above ground pool.  I have tried putting water out by the hives, to no effect.  They seemed very interested in my neighbors bird bath.  When I move the bird bath to the bees, they passed over it and headed for the pool.

Watching the bees, I noticed a number that mastered a "dip" motion.  They dive to the water, then jerk back out of it.  Most just bellyflop into it.  I also noticed the body count dropped on breezy days, increased on still days.

I put the pool on a timer.  The filter goes on at 11:00 am and off at 5:00.  I adjusted the filter outlet up slightly to disturb the water surface.  As long as the water surface is moving during the hottest part of the day, the pool does not catch but a few bees.  The skimmer is full of beetles, yellowjackets and flies, but not bees.  I guess the bees are smarter.

I made one of the hoses leak slightly, training the bees to the filter and out of the pool.

A couple of days ago I came home to find hundreds of dead bees in the pool, the timer on the filter had burned out.  What a difference the timer made while it worked!

Jim Hock
Wethersfield, CT.

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