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Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues and Bee Biology

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Subject:
From:
Przemek Skoskiewicz <[log in to unmask]>
Reply To:
Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues and Bee Biology <[log in to unmask]>
Date:
Sun, 21 Jan 2018 17:45:24 -0500
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Boardman (entrance) feeders filled with tap water processed via a salt-based softener. I have 3 direct neighbors with 3 pools (plus my own, so 4 pools within 300 ft from the hives) and have stopped having problems. I attribute it to two factors:

1. My tap water is a well water with high mineral content to begin with (as tested by an outside water testing company), then there’s the slight salinity introduced by the softener. The test was required in order to adjust the softener, since it works based on the water “hardness”.

2. I leave the water feeders throughout the entire flying season, so the bees learn the water source early on. Someone has made that point already about how difficult it is to unlearn bees once they latch on to a water source. This is key, because one year in early, warm spring my neighbor was mightily upset to find bees all over her pool cover drinking from pooled water on top and then pooping on her freshly washed cars as they were flying back to my hives - you have no idea how funny a white car looks like when pockmarked with yellow bee poop, :-) I put the feeders on as soon as I take off the hive insulation in early March (I’m in NY state) and remove the entrance reducers.

It always amazes me how many bees are crowded underneath the water bottles every time I go to refill them. It can also serve as early sentinel warning that something is not right with a hive, if I see all the bottles depleted except in one hive. It happened once so far and as best I was able to tell, the colony lost its queen in summer. After putting in a couple of frames with eggs and brood, water consumption started to match the other hives and the colony produced enough surplus honey for me to collect it.

Przemek

> On Jan 21, 2018, at 12:31 PM, randy oliver <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> 
>> 
> 
> Has anyone on the List been successful in attracting bees away from
> neighbors' water sources?  If so, what did you use as a water source?
> 


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