Bees depend on water for diluting their honey, controlling humidity levels and keeping their hive cool. Furthermore, they need mud for nesting purposes as well as burial of larvae.
Be sure to provide water in an acceptable fashion; shallow depths will prevent drowning of bees.
There are a variety of bee water feeders to choose from; here are some tips to help you choose the appropriate one:
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Internal Top Feeders
Hive top feeders are internal beehive feeders installed onto the upper box of a hive to provide food to new colonies or as support during periods of dearth or winter preparation. They may be used either directly on top or as an insert.
These feeders consist of an inverted shallow container filled with sugar syrup and featuring a reservoir, float for bees to land on, hardware cloth and bee-proof hardware cloth for access from below and an inner cover that rests flush against the top surface of the feeder for optimal results.
Bees require nourishment in order to promote colony growth, develop stores for winter storage, and maintain healthy brood chambers. Beekeepers often find this an effective way of supplementing their colonies in preparation for winter, particularly as fall approaches.
Frame Feeders
Frame feeders (also referred to as division boards or hive feeders) are plastic containers placed inside of a beehive for beekeeping purposes. Popular among commercial beekeepers because of their ability to hold lots of sugar water quickly and fill quickly back up, frame feeders do have some drawbacks as well.
Bees in cold weather often need fast access to drinking water, making hive entrances much shorter. Unfortunately, however, this means opening your hive more frequently to refill their containers with drinking water.
Some division board feeders feature rough sides, ladders, or floats to protect bees when they fall in and drown when falling from above. Although these solutions are effective and help prevent robbing, you must still be wary not to overfill these feeders.
These feeders have the advantage of remaining completely inside the hive, making them less likely to attract robbers than external feeders. Although these must be regularly filled due to the large capacity of sugar water they hold, this feeder solution may provide beekeepers looking for cost savings an effective solution.
Marbles or Glass Stones
Marbles or glass stones make an attractive and cost-effective addition to any bee watering station, being relatively cheap, easy to make and beautiful in appearance. They make your station stand out and look very aesthetically pleasing – make the decision now to add these lovely additions!
Marbles have been an iconic part of society for millennia, dating back to ancient Roman and Egyptian cultures. Today’s marbles are comprised of sand, soda lime and silica; with additional additives including aluminum hydrate and zinc oxide.
Sand and other materials are combined in a furnace and heated at 2300 degrees Fahrenheit for 24 hours or more to liquefy, before being released into a flow tank to be cut into small globs for further processing.
These globs travel down ramps and are fed through grooved rollers which cool the hot glass before sending it through grooved rollers with grooved grooves to perfect their spherical shapes. After being processed through this step they are then sorted and packaged for shipment.
Corks
Corks are produced from the bark of a Mediterranean evergreen tree called Quercus suber, which can grow up to 400 feet high and live up to several centuries before succumbing to disease or dying.
So many applications exist for these versatile materials – naturally moisture-wicking, cushioning, insulating, fireproof, antimicrobial (odor repellent), biodegradable and lightweight make them the ideal material choice for bottle stoppers and other products.
Making corks is a relatively straightforward process that starts by boiling planks to soften and clean them, before being shaped into bottle enclosures through press molding.
Cork taint became an issue some years ago, prompting people to switch from natural corks to synthetic versions – which perform just as well but with three major advantages over natural ones: they don’t produce any taint and allow in more oxygen.
