Drowning bumblebees...

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Hanson

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Are there any experts on bees on here?

With this warm weather we have a lot of bees about and I frequently find them half drowned in the horses field water tubs. I always fish them out and find somewhere sheltered for them to dry off.

Just curious if there is a reason why they seem attracted to the water (tubs are yellow and blue) I find more bees in the blue tub.

So sad to see them. It tends to be mainly bumblebees but had found the odd honey bee.
 
I found two this afternoon, the one alive was clinging onto the dead one to stay afloat. Made me feel awful.

OH suggested putting a large stone in the tub so they can climb onto something to get dry, but knowing my horses they would do something silly and hurt themselves...
 
They go to water and are thirsty after a sleep. They try to cling onto the sides but they are too slippy.
 
That may be something to consider, a ball or something that floats, is soft and is too large to be swallowed...have to think of every eventuality with my horses!

Had a giggle at what the expression would be like on my old boys face if he found a rubber duck in his water trough! Would be priceless!
 
We got rid of all our blue and yellow tubs a few years ago because the colour attracts bees and so many drowned, just have black ones now and no more drowned bees.
 
I have found the same, especially in blue tubs. I think it is the colour that attracts them. Often the best pollen comes from blue flowers. I now don't buy blue trugs for water. Red or black are much safer for bees.
 
The horses in the next paddock have red buckets and have never seen a bee in them (buckets next to tap)... Will buy some black tubs I think
 
I have found the same with blue and occasionally green and pink water buckets. I have changed all of mine to black now too. Whenever I do find any I fish them out and pop them somewhere to dry. I give them a splodge of honey too which seems to wake them up a bit quicker - its so cool watching them lick it (or how ever it is they take in food like that).
 
EKW said:
I have found the same with blue and occasionally green and pink water buckets. I have changed all of mine to black now too. Whenever I do find any I fish them out and pop them somewhere to dry. I give them a splodge of honey too which seems to wake them up a bit quicker - its so cool watching them lick it (or how ever it is they take in food like that).
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This, sometimes even when they look drowned they are not. I scoop them out, put them somewhere to dry and offer them sugar dissolved in water on a teaspoon, it's fab to watch them dry themselves and start to sip the sugar water before they fly off :)
 
If you fish them out still alive they need honey or sugar to get their energy back. Never imported honey, but local stuff should be OK, or just a sugar syrup.
 
Count Oggy said:
According I worked at had pieces of 2x4 about 8" long floating in every trough so birds could climb out of they fell in, could work for bees to maybe?
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This reminds me of the time I was accused of drowning the peacocks! Lol!

So the story goes - 'my' horse lived out in the field at the back of the yard as he had a dust allergy so was trained from the field and that one was the most sheltered. Next to the field was the peacock pens and it was in that corner that the horses water buckets were as they shared a hose pipe with the birds. One tub was fine but it was the big bin that 3 peacocks drowned in. They would hop in for a bath and not be able to spread their wings to get themselves out! So after the first one commited suicide the bosses mum (whose peacocks they were) put a towel down the inside of the tub and taped it to the outside so it couldn't fall all the way in to give the birds feet purchase to climb back out. A great idea in theory. In practice the towel just drained all of the water out of the bucket. Plus another bird drowned as they got tangled in the towel ... So her next plan was to cover the top of the bin in chicken wire so the birds couldn't get in but when it was pointed out that they horses then couldn't get to the water she took it off. The next day, whilst no one was about she put the wire in the same way as she had the towel. Which would have been fine if the edges of the wire had been trimmed or taped to stop the horses stabbing themselves with it. Plus another bird was too stupid to realise that it could use it as a ladder to climb out and drowned.

I was blamed for all of the drownings lol! So in the end we moved the horses water bin and now have a big water bowser in the middle field. It still doesn't stop the stupid birds climbing in and drowning but it now 1 every year or so and no the 3 in a fortnight that we had originally lol!
 
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Star_pants said:
This, sometimes even when they look drowned they are not. I scoop them out, put them somewhere to dry and offer them sugar dissolved in water on a teaspoon, it's fab to watch them dry themselves and start to sip the sugar water before they fly off :)
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My daughters explanation for this is, bees work so hard collecting pollen they get exhausted, she suggested putting a shallow bowl of sugar water down for them, took her suggestion up and it's fascinating watching them revive themselves, don't have a problem with my troughs though
 
Thanks all, I've tied a piece of rope to the handle of each tub and let it dangle in the water so the bees have something to climb up...and the horses can't (I hope!) hurt themselves.

Didn't think about sugar water, I've always got sugar in tack room as farrier has sweet tea.

Will invest in black or red tubs next time.
 
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