Bee Watering Station

kate@motec.nz

Bees use water for:

Cooling - In the heat of summer, water is used for cooling the hive. Similar to human-designed air conditions, the bees spread a thin film of water on top of sealed brood(baby bee cells) or on the rims of cells that contain larvae and eggs. The workers inside the hive then fan the area with their wings, which creates air flow. This causes the water to evaporate and cools the interior temperature of the hive.
Humidity - Worker bees use water to control the humidity of the colony, not just the temperature.
Utilise Stored Food - Bees need water to dilute stored honey that has crystallised (become too high in glucose/sugar) or in the case where beekeeper feeds them dried sugar crystals, they need water to dissolve the sugar. Without water, they can't access these food sources.
Larvae Food - Another type of bee in the hive is the nurse bee, who feeds the developing larvae. They consume large amounts of pollen, nectar, and water so that their hypo-pharyngeal glands can produce the jelly that is used to feed the larvae. A larvae diet can consist of water up to 80 percent the first day of larval growth and about 55 percent on the sixth day.
Digestion - They need it in the digestion and metabolisation of their food.

*Kim Flottum, editor of theBee Culture magazine, writes in his book,The Backyard Beekeeper: An Absolute Beginner's Guide to Keeping Bees in Your Yard and Garden. "A summer colony needs at least a litre of water every day, and even more when it's warm." "Forager bees will mark unscented sources of water with their Nasonov pheromone so other bees can locate the source of water too" Flottum writes.

Why bees need clean water:

Chlorine - In a suburban environments, we recommend giving your bees fresh clean water (to keep them out of your neighbouring swimming pools). Not only can the water contain chlorine but other contaminants.
Larvae Development - Hypo-pharyngeal glands are less developed in workers starved, poisoned with pesticides and other anaesthetics. The nurse bees and other bees use these glands to feed the larvae. During 24 hours the queen is able to lay more than 2000 eggs (larvae). That's a lot of mouths to feed!
Agricultural Contamination - Often water runoff in ditches, culverts, or other agriculturally related waterways which contains insecticides, pesticides or fungicides which can disrupt brain function of the bee to bee learning, forage for food and so limits the colony growth.

There are many ways you can help bees get some water during the summer heat, spring or fall. It's not as important how you do it, it's more important it gets done.