Lesson 51: Water

Why bees need it, and how to give them a safe, reliable source

It's easy to think of bees as needing only flowers. But bees need water every day, and in hot, dry weather a colony uses a lot of it. Providing water keeps your bees healthy and keeps them out of your neighbors' pools (lesson 3).

What bees use water for

• Cooling the hive. In hot weather, bees spread water inside the hive and fan their wings so it evaporates, cooling the brood nest (lesson 10).
• Keeping the right humidity in the hive, and preventing dehydration.
• Feeding larvae. Nurse bees use water in making brood food.
• Diluting stored honey so it can be used, especially when brood rearing is heavy.

A colony that has to fly far for water wastes energy that could go into foraging for nectar and pollen. A nearby water source means more productive bees.

Bees will find the nearest water

Bees use the closest reliable water they can find. If you don't provide it, that could be a neighbor's swimming pool, birdbath, dripping spigot, or pet's water bowl, one of the most common complaints about backyard bees. Set up water before the bees arrive, so they learn your source first. Once bees have found a source, they're slow to switch to a new one.

Good water sources

The key is a place for bees to land and drink without drowning:

• A tub, bucket or trough with floats: pieces of wood, cork, or foam chips, or rocks or sticks poking above the surface.
• A shallow pan filled with pebbles or marbles and water.
• A dripping faucet or slow drip onto a board or into a pan.
• A feeder filled with water (an entrance feeder or a jar feeder; lesson 22).
• A pond, creek or other natural source nearby. Guides often suggest water within about a quarter mile of the hives.

Keep it filled and reliable. Bees depend on it, especially in hot, dry spells and droughts. If the source dries up, they'll go looking elsewhere, maybe next door.

A few cautions

• Keep water sources clean, and change standing water regularly. Some beekeepers use water from an uncontaminated source only; bees can bring back whatever is in the water.
• Avoid water near pesticide spraying, runoff, or chemical containers (lesson 68).
• Check it in heat waves, when the colony may need much more.

What to remember

• Bees need water every day, to cool the hive, keep humidity right, feed larvae and use stored honey.
• Provide it before the bees arrive, close to the hives, or they'll use the neighbors' pool.
• Give bees something to land on: floats, pebbles, sticks, a drip.
• Keep it filled, especially in hot, dry weather.

Quick check

1. Name two things bees use water for.
2. Why set up water before the bees arrive?
3. What's the most important feature of a bee waterer?

Adapted from: Utah State University Extension, Thriving Hives: The Apiary (2024); Delaplane, K. S., Honey Bees and Beekeeping (UGA Extension Bulletin 1045, rev. 2017); UGA Bee Program, Getting Started: Preparing to Keep Bees and A Synopsis of Bee Management in Georgia; UF/IFAS Extension, Welcome to the Apiary! (4H446); Purdue Extension, Learning About Beekeeping (4-H-1057-W) and Advanced Beekeeping (4-H-1059-W).

Adapted from university Extension sources. Experienced Georgia beekeepers are reviewing these lessons. See something that doesn't match your experience? Tell us.