If you want to provide water for bees in the garden and thus help the environment, you can make a bee trough yourself. These beneficial insects do important work for the health and safety of their hive from sunrise to sunset. Forager bees travel up to 8 km from the colony to collect pollen. As soon as the pollen baskets overflow, the bees rush back to the hive at 24 km/h, release the protein-rich pollen to the brood and set off again. Creating an insect drinker is therefore a simple and sensible way to provide the bees with clean drinking water and to support the entire life of the hive. Here are some ideas you can implement in your garden.
Why you should make a bee trough yourself and help bees
As they explore the wide world, bees look for four things: pollen, nectar, propolis (or bee glue), and water. They drink water to quench their thirst, but they also collect it internally, in what is called the honey stomach, and carry it back to the hive. Water is used there in various ways. Next to onehealthy dietWith nectar, pollen and royal jelly, the developing larvae need a lot of water to develop from helpless larvae into busy bees.
Although bees are perfectly capable of finding their own water sources, these are not always clean and safe. Polluted watercourses, chlorinated water andwith pesticidesPolluted drains are not good for bees or other wildlife. It would therefore make sense to help them by making a bee trough yourself using various materials.
However, bees cannot land on the surface of the water. To eliminate the risk of drowning, always add small landing areas for the insects to settle. Rocks, gravel, twigs or sticks, and corks are some of the things you can use to provide a safe haven for bees. This gives you safe access to the water without slipping in.
Use smelling water
Bee researchers believe that bees find water by smell rather than sight. In addition, she is most attracted to water that exudes the earthy aromas of nature. The insects tend to ignore pure water sources straight from the tap and instead look for sources that smell of wet earth, decay, aquatic plants, moss, worms and salt. Help the bees find your waterer by sprinkling some salt into the water. However, you should only do this initially - once a few bees discover your drinkers, they will remember the location.
Find the right place for the insect potion
Once it turns out that your waterer is in the right place for the insects, you will have flocks of bees shoulder to shoulder around the tank. So before you make and set up the bee trough yourself, choose a clearly visible location. However, you should keep these away from heavily trafficked areas of the garden. If this is in the garden area where flowers that bees find delicious are, you will also help them find your water source more easily.
Replace the water at least once a week and much more frequently on really hot and sizzling days when bees need additional cooling for the hive. However, you don't need to drain the water. Simply fill the drinker with fresh water and let the excess run over the edges of the bowl. Mosquito eggs laid in standing water are washed away.
Make the birdbath in the garden bee-friendly too
You can also easily make the wide and flat basin of a bird bath yourself as a bee trough and thus convert it into a bee trough. Simply add pebbles or other perches for bees. You can stack the stones on one side or spread them evenly across the bottom of the tub as long as there are multiple dry landing zones in the water. As an added bonus, you'll probably get a fewButterflies in the gardenattract by creating a bee bath filled with pebbles. Just like bees, butterflies cannot land on water and would appreciate a safe place to rest and drink.
Recycle feeding tubes for birds and make your own bee drinkers
Bees suck up liquids with a straw-like tongue or proboscis. When fully extended, the proboscis measures approximately half a centimeter, allowing bees to reach the deepest parts of the flowers and access the sweet nectar, or in this case, refreshing water. Feeders or tubes allow creatures with long snouts to sip the drink through numerous openings. Fill it with plain water instead of sugar water and it becomes a fantastic watering station for bees.
Turn clay pots over and use them as insect potions
A DIY project for bee troughs can also be easily realized using flower pots. To do this, turn a clay pot upside down and place the corresponding saucer on it. It would be best to use a pot that is at least 20cm wide. The larger the pot and saucer combination, the more water the drinker holds. Terracotta pots also have a wonderful, natural look that will add a rustic touch to your garden. You can leave these as they are or brighten up the repurposed insect potion with some craft paint. Place this in a flat spot in the garden and fill the saucer with stones or pebbles. Then pour in some water and say hello to your new found friends.
Make your own natural-looking bee drink
This is a truly inspiring way to make your bees feel at home. A bee trough like this is filled to the brim with things that you can pick up from the forest floor. You can pack the mixture of stones, moss, grass, leaves, twigs, shells, pine cones and flower branches tightly into the tank. This allows the bees to absorb water without even getting their feet wet. This can also be created in a birdbath, but you can use any shallow dish to house different pieces of nature's bounty.
Use other containers as drinking troughs
Creating an insect potion doesn't have to be complicated. Any waterproof container is enough to provide instant fresh water to bees or butterflies in the garden. Look around your home for possible containers - shallow pans such as casserole dishes, cake plates and baking trays would also work. Don't overlook deeper containers like buckets or troughs. These are fine as long as you fill all of them to the surface of the water with rocks or use floats like twigs and wine corks. Even an upside-down Frisbee would do in a pinch, so use your imagination as you look for possible water containers around the house. The local bee population will be buzzing with gratitude.
