Drinking bowl for bees - learn and master yourself

Any beekeeper-beekeeper knows that the timely and regular drinking regime plays an important role in maintaining the correct metabolism and normal existence for bees . A drinker for bees is such an adaptation in which it is always possible to find warm and clean water, so necessary for the livelihood of these indefatigable toilers - producers of honey.

Is it possible?

Beginners amateur beekeepers do not know, and sometimes, perhaps, do not want to burden themselves with additional costs for the acquisition and construction of these drinkers. Located near the apiary natural reservoirs, they consider a sufficient condition for satisfying the vital drinking needs of bees. It is noticed that sometimes striped in search of water can fly even long distances. But in the future, because of this, there will definitely be a significant negative that will not allow the bee colonies to be preserved in their integrity: from the extra expenditure of energy for flights to saturate the body with water, the case of bees can arise, which, accordingly, will cause losses in the beekeeping industry.

And even a drinker for bees, finally built after reading useful literature and listening to the tips of experienced beekeepers, is unlikely to help you at first. Bees that flew before on a watering hole along the same route will hardly be able to get used to a new place. According to the experience of specialists, sometimes this is almost impossible to do, and then beekeepers, again, probably will fail.

It is necessary to know

You ask how to teach bees to a waterer? Here are some recommendations that you need to listen to.

• First, it is necessary to start buying or building a drinker before the onset of warm days, so that the bees, with the arrival of a new working season, immediately discovered this innovation.
• Secondly, it is better to place bee-drinking drinkers on the sunny side, so that the water in them is sufficiently heated, and not at the intersection with the main direction of flight of the bee colon.
• Thirdly, in order to achieve an effective result faster, a honeycomb should be spread around the device, and the water itself should also be slightly sweetened.

Varieties of drinkers

By appointment, the following types of drinkers are distinguished: general use and individual. For their manufacture, materials such as wood, metal, glass, as well as ordinary plastic and plastics are used. In specialized stores you can buy inexpensive ready-made drinkers designs with an interesting design. A ceramic drinker for bees is worthy of attention of buyers. Water from the tap here drops into the tray, made in the form of a cone. The groove is made in the form of a spiral, along which it flows trickle down.

Homemade drinkers

But still let's try to assemble the drinker on our own, especially since all the improvised means necessary for its creation literally "lie around" under our feet. A designed drinking bowl for bees with your own hands is a flight of your imagination, and besides a considerable saving of your budget. So, we proceed. To begin with, you need to decide: a drinker for bees, what will it be?

Here, for example, there is such a simple device that is made of stainless steel container with a crane. It is enough to adapt to it an inclined board, in which small grooves are cut out, and pour water over them. Its spreading drops will attract numerous swarms of bees.

Here is another clear example of how to build a fairly light and efficient drinking bowl. Pour water into a regular glass jar. We put on the lid, in which we drill several holes and turn, while putting it on the pallet. Glass jars will heat up from the sun's rays, the water will be constantly warm, which is important for bees. The advantage of such a drinker in front of the others is that this construction does not require financial costs. It can easily be installed near each hive, but, of course, it is necessary to pour water in time and disinfect the container and pallet.

Valveless bowl for remote apiary

But what if the apiary is far away from your house, and you do not have the ability to constantly watch it? In this case, the problem of constant water supply will help you to create a valvelless drinker. The idea is this.

Water is poured into a large container with a nozzle attached to it. Water pipes, laid along the hives, must also be attached to it. At each end of the pipe, an additional small tube with a screw cap is welded. In order to avoid the formation of air jams in the system when it is filled with water, it is necessary to trace the density of their closing. Thus, water can be brought to each bee house, even if they are placed at different heights.

Determine what is best

How to make a drinker for bees, you now know. Yes, it may not be a purchase option at all. Although it seems that it is easier to come to the store, pay off and pick up the purchase. But no, we will not look for easy ways and spend money on something that can be easily done with our own hands.

Let your homemade drinker for bees be not so beautiful as in the store, but, as we know, in any matter the result is important. By acquiring the experience of caring for smart and hardworking bees, you will find a version of the design that is right for your apiary and, with ingenuity, create an even more unusual and effective drinking bowl.