# Bees and my Bird Bath????



## froebeli

Hi Bee keepers! I don't keep bees, but have a question. We have an 18" wide bird bath at our house with large rocks in a section of the bath. All summer long we have noticed many honey bees (like 8 to 20) flying around and landing on the rocks to drink at the water's edge or the damp area at the water's edge on the rocks. No honey bees on our patio ponds/water gardens but all over the rocks on the bird bath. 

Any ideas why and how close would the hive be? There is plenty of other water nearby, creeks, streams, ponds. Just curious, as this is the first time in 14 years we have seen honey bee activity like this at this bird bath.

Thanks in advance. Maybe someday I will become a beekeeper too.


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## 1shotwade

The bees are taking water back to the hive and they have chosen your bird bath probably because it is either the closest or most convenient.So,here's what to do. When you have some time to spare go out to your birdbath and sprinkle a bee with flour,watch it fly off(which direction it ends up going) that will be the direction of the hive.Check the time and see how long it takes that bee to come back for more water. This will give you an idea how far away the hive it.They normally fly a straight path to the hive.

Wade


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## handymama

If you don't like them there, you could try putting an alternate source nearby for them that's more attractive than your birdbath. I've heard a shallow dish with lots of rocks works. And I know bees will chase off birds- I've had a real problem with my hummingbird feeders this summer.


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## froebeli

handymama.... that is exactly what we have. A shallow dish with rocks. Sitting beside a small pond. Never a bee on the pond or lily pads, but all over those rough rocks.


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## handymama

Sounds kind of cute when I think about it. But nobody else at my house would feel that way. They are the anti bee lol


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## froebeli

We are actually very fascinated by all of this bee activity and wanted to learn more. Like how close is the hive and where. We will have to try Wade's dusting of the bee bottoms to see if that works. 

Need those honey bees to pollinate the apple trees and the squash and melons in the garden. Glad to see them there, just curious as to why so many this year.


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## handymama

I'll bet you have a new colony


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## handymama

Did you try the flour yet?


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## froebeli

Have not had a chance to try the dusting yet...dang work and garden have been in the way. Tonight I might try it though. I'll keep you posted. 

Wade...if I time the bees, how fast do they fly? How do I know how far away they are?


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## 1shotwade

froebeli said:


> Have not had a chance to try the dusting yet...dang work and garden have been in the way. Tonight I might try it though. I'll keep you posted.
> 
> Wade...if I time the bees, how fast do they fly? How do I know how far away they are?



It's all" guestimation! " I know they can fly as fast as I can run! LOL
That's the only guidelines I know of!


Wade


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## TxGypsy

Farm before this one had a small pond very close to my hives. My bees at first used this pond to get water, but then they flew further to come get water from the house. I noticed that frogs are really good at catching bees getting a drink from the edge of that pond. Possibly this is why your birdbath is so attractive to them. No predators. Possibly it also has to do with water quality.


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## Tomthearcher

Wade is exactly right, I have bees here on my little farmstead and they are fascinating to watch and learn from. So when you get to dust one with some flour, just wait a few minutes, if they are not far off, that little white dusted critter won't be far away from it's hive. Then it's just a matter of walking in the direction that you see ------ fly off. With a keen ear and good sharp eyes, you will find the source very quickly.


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## GeoCitizen

Bees are fairly loyal to a water source once they find it. I doubt very seriously if you could lure them to another source nearby. They may also like the smell of the pond water you have. Last year my bees flew over the water source I had for them and used by neighbors bird bath. Go figure. 

I'm glad you're bee-friendly. Chances of these bees stinging you without provocation is close to zero. In fact if you dip your finger in the water and then put it in front of them they may climb on. This will take concentration on your part to block the fact your only about 10 microseconds from a sting. Add a little sugar to the water and you'll be surprised the number of different visiting pollinators you'll attract.


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## froebeli

Okay.... so it's not very easy to dust a bee! I'm not so sure someone isn't pulling my leg about dusting bees with flour and watching them, because it wasn't happening...LOL. All I know at this point is that the bees love this birdbath and they are "somewhere" nearby. See the photo below. Must have been 20 to 30 bees in and around the water.


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## handymama

Hmm, that is neat! Hope you do find a way to flour them... I was hoping to know how long it took them to come back...


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## 1shotwade

froebeli said:


> Okay.... so it's not very easy to dust a bee! I'm not so sure someone isn't pulling my leg about dusting bees with flour and watching them, because it wasn't happening...LOL. All I know at this point is that the bees love this birdbath and they are "somewhere" nearby. See the photo below. Must have been 20 to 30 bees in and around the water.



I don't know what you're having trouble with dusty a bee! Just stand at the water with a pinch of flour in hand and wait for one to come in and start taking water.They are not going to be aggressive unless you start swating at them.BTW,I wouldn't dream of "pulling your leg"! I'm stronger than you think and wouldn't want you to have a limp after I stretched one leg out an extra inch or so!LOL

Wade


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## the kid

and as soon as you kid around about something ( unless you say in the next line "" just kidding "" and even then some one will take it as true ))) a lot of the ones reading it will look at it as written in stone true


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## froebeli

So, I tried again today... dusted three bees. One so heavily that it took it several minutes to groom enough off to fly. Never saw a bee return that had any flour left. I assume because when the three left, you could hardly tell they had any flour on them. 

Great idea, maybe, but not very practical in reality. 

Still have LOTS of bees visiting the birdbath each day and they are very docile. Helped several out of the water today with my finger, that had fallen in. At least the bees are happy and I have water available. Hope they stay around a long time.

They seem to arrive and depart to both sides of the house, so "who knows" where they live.


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## handymama

How cute! I don't mind honeybees at all, but today I got stung by two yellow jackets while I was weedeating, and I'm about to lite them suckers up.
I'd love to see a pic of a bee on your finger. I'm so not brave enough lol


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## alleyyooper

If you really really want to find the colony *goggle lineing bees*. should be a site that explains how the people way back before computers and grocery stores found bee trees.
Yes you can do it with out a cigar box any type you can hold works.

 Al


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## froebeli

Thanks Al! 

I did the google search and it makes complete sense, but I don't have that kind of time, patience or inclination to find these bees that badly. 

I suspect they are in a tree nearby and maybe at the edge of our property. Don't know what I'd do if I did know where they were. 

Thanks all for the information. I did learn new things about honey bees.


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