Thirsty Bees
It’s getting warmer now but I still wear a sweatshirt while working in the garden. The temperature was a little bit above 50° F but the bees were all over the birdbaths, especially the heated one. I put a couple of stones in each birdbath for the bees to use as a landing and for small birds to enjoy taking a bath in a shallow area.
The bees seem to come for the water in the last few days. I’m not sure if they need water to soften sugar syrup they have taken in earlier which might have turned crystalized when the temperature dropped to below freezing in the last few nights. Or, they need to feed new lavae which, in this case, is a good sign. I don’t think cooling the hive is the reason at this time of year when the temperature is still below 60° F most days. Some of them prefer to get a drink from tiny droplets on grass.
Whether they drink from birdbaths, blade of grass, the end of the hose, it’s fun to watch.
The bees also serve as a reminder for me to clean birdbaths often. I know they can drink from any sources as long as it’s not toxic but seeing them drinking from a dirty source and taking it back to the hive just gives me a yucky feeling.
Petals and Wings 
Really great photos, just lovely to see.
Thank you. I feel much better to see them flying around taking pollen, syrup and water in.
Yes, I always think of the bees’ health and try and keep my birdbath clean in summer. Ours is nearly over down here in New Zealand.
I usually clean them once a week in summer since we have a few of them here and there in the garden so they don’t get dirty that fast. I don’t stretch more than seven days because of mosquitoes. But in late winter and early spring there are only two heated baths so they get dirty much faster.
I hope your winter will not be as bad as ours.
Your bees seem to be thriving. Love the image of the 4 bees lined up.
I’m really happy that they all pulled through. When they line up to drink like that it reminds me of African animals drinking from watering holes.
A fascinating insight. And they are darned cute drinking! 🙂
Yes, they are cute. Just don’t get them mad.
I’ll do my best!
Great photos – well observed!
Thank you. It’s fun watching them. They even fight for their favorite drinking spot.
You take the cutest photos of bees 🙂 ! I’ve never noticed a bee drinking a droplet from a blade of grass before (thank you for this sight into their little world) and the four bees drinking together are surprisingly adorable.
I was lucky in going out early when the dew had not yet evaporated yet the temperature is warm enough for the bees to come out. There are no flowers blooming close to the ground yet so I was wondering what they were doing very close to the ground. I found that they were drinking the dew. Pretty interesting to watch.
Thank you for re-blogging. Visited your site, quite interesting.
Wonderful photos 🙂 thank you for sharing the drinking water bees with us.
Thank you.