African Honey Bee drinking water at my wildlife pond
We have two colonies of bees living on our smallholding and during
summer my wildlife pond is a great attraction for them. Water is very
important to a hive. Bees rarely store water, but bring it in as needed,
so it is vital to provide fresh water to them continuously. They also
use water to control the humidity of the colony, not just the
temperature. Besides my pond, I have various containers around the
garden for them. They’re a bit of a nightmare to photograph, don’t sit
still for very long and even crawled up my phone a couple of times when I
got too close! They are actually fearless little creatures, with no fear for their own safety, everything is done with the colony in mind.
South Africa is home to two sub-species or races
of honeybees which are indigenous to the country: Apis mellifera
Scutellata (or “African bee”) and Apis mellifera Capensis (or “Cape
bee”). The Cape bee is generally confined to the western and southern
Cape regions particularly referred to as the Fynbos region running in an
imaginary line between Vredendal on the western Atlantic coastline
across to Willowvale on the eastern Indian Ocean coastline. The African
bee covers the region to the north of this area although there is
hybrid zone overlapping the two regions where A.m. capensis and A.m.
scutellata hybridize.
A couple of bees sipping water from the safety of a log placed in the pond
The African bee is an aggressive bee with a
hardy strain and capable of producing large crops of honey. It has
more of a yellow striped abdomen compared to A.m. capensis. Only the
queens are fertile; worker bees are infertile when the queen is present.
(Not to be confused with the Africanized honeybee (AHB) found across
south, central, and north America).
The Cape bee tends to be a
more docile bee (although can also become aggressive when provoked),
distinguished from the African bee by a darker abdomen and are sometimes
referred to as “black bees”. It has a unique characteristic in that
the worker bees (females) have the ability to produce both male and
female offspring and thus able to re-queen a colony which has become
queenless.
—Info from
SABIO (South African Bee Industry Organisation)
"HONEY BEES are not pests; they are a highly developed
species of the animal world and contribute significantly to the
sustainability of the eco-system in all areas – urban environment,
farming areas and bush lands. In Africa alone there are an estimated
3000 species of bees and throughout the world some 20,000 different
species.
Scutellata is the infamous “African Killer Bee” which is well known
for its ferociousness and hard work. Its ferocity is ingrained from
centuries of adapting to the harsh hot African sun, and constant
irritation of robbing by vandals intent on stealing its plentiful supply
of honey without regard to professional care and attention. A properly
managed hive of African bees can be easily and meekly handled with the
proper care, equipment and patience. It is these bees which have become
notorious as the African Killer Bee in South America and southern North
America after they were introduced from a Pretoria apiary for
experimental breeding purposes.
Capensis was restricted naturally to the Western and Eastern Cape
regions until unsuspecting and ambitious Western Cape Pollinators
introduced them to the Transvaal region in the 1980’s. Cape Bees are
unique in that the worker bees are able to reproduce their own kind
through egg laying, whilst Scutellata does not do this. The Cape Bees
are also invasive bees which roam and invade the more prolific and
productive Scutellata hives where they take over and eventually destroy
the Scutellata swarm. The introduction of the Capensis Bee into the
Scutellata region created total havoc amongst the beekeeping industry in
that region. A Scutellata hive with Cape Bees has to be destroyed to
prevent the spread of the Cape Bees to other hives."
- This info from
"Southerns Beekeeping Association"
Easy ways to give Honey Bees water
-
Frisbee With Rocks - Put a frisbee full of clean rocks
(find them in your yard) underneath a faucet outside, turn the faucet on
so it drips once per minute. Over the day it will fill up and provide
fresh water for the bees.
-
Glass Pebbles - Most art stores have those bags of glass pebbles you can buy. Buy 1-2
bags of these pebbles and put them in a large (6 or more inches) but
shallow container. Fill this with fresh water daily and place it near
your garden or outside in a natural area of your yard. Bonus if you put
some water-loving plants like cattails, water loving ferns,
etc
-
Birdbath - Take over the bird bath and decorate with
twigs, rocks, pebbles, and wine corks. Add some green ferns or moss to
add a bit of colour.
Bees use water for
-
Cooling - In the heat of summer it is used for
evaporative cooling. Similar to human-designed air conditions, the
bees spread a thin film of water atop sealed brood (baby bee cells) or on
the rims of cells containing larvae and eggs. The workers inside the
hive then fan vigorously, setting up air flow which evaporated the water
and cools the interior 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 crystallized (become too high in glucose) or in the case
where a 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 hypopharyngeal 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 metabolization of their food, as do most organisms.
(This info from
Seedles)
For the past few months, the pond has been leaking badly, losing half its water in just a couple of days. So I stopped filling it every day and left it until it reached a level where the water wasn't dropping any more. You can see the line (brown area) just below the water where the leaking stopped. I then applied a few coats of eco-friendly pond sealer, waited a couple of days to let it dry and then re-filled the pond. It's not leaking much now, but I still have not totally stopped the leaking! I still have to have a small amount of water flowing into the pond daily to keep it filled. At this point I'm giving up and waiting to see if it gets any worse. The leaking I mean. If it does, I have two options - empty the pond COMPLETELY and gunite it like a swimming pool or - close it up! That would be a disaster for all the water-loving birds I have in my garden as well as all the insects and other little reptiles living in the area.
The water lilies don't seem to have suffered any adverse effects from being exposed to the sun for a few days, and started flowering as soon as the pond was full again. The water looks lovely and crystal clear against the black back-drop of the sealer and it has enticed me a couple of times to take a plunge. Swimming with all the frogs and naiads (dragonfly larvae) is really exciting!
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