Beekeeping - Easy DIY watering hole

This is an easy DIY watering place for your bees to get a drink. Also some tips for attracting the bees and preventing mosquitoes.
Mosquito dunks: amzn.com/B00025...
Bucket lid: amzn.com/B008DR...

[@BakerMikeRomeo]

i love this video - for seven solid years folks have been discovering this video and leaving little notes about their beekeeping and bee-watering experiences, and the fella who posted it still checks in every now and again. this isn't like an influencer operation or some business selling whatever or generating PR, just a guy who's keeping the bees happy, and the people that are made happy thereby. it's a bee-autiful thing.

[@IceManTX69]

Hey thanks! Those are very kind words and appreciated.

[@sansomspressurecleaningpoo9519]

What a nice thing for you to do for your 🐝 bees. Nice job

[@blissparkresort]

Very nice. Thanks for sharing and keeping the bees happy.

[@Imwright720]

The bacillus works great for mosquitoes , but just 1/4 of that dunks more than enough for 5 gals. It puts a naturally occurring bacteria in the water that gets in the gut of the mosquito larva and kills them. It won't hurt anything else. They are made for large bodies of water.

[@IceManTX69]

Gene Miller Hey thanks for the info! That will save me from using up the dunks so quick.

[@IceManTX69]

Yes, you are probably right in that one hole would suffice. I hadn't really thought about it until you said it. I originally had the water very close to the hives and they quit using it. I read that as the bees leave the hive they tend to pee & poo and it can soil the water to where they won't use it. So I moved it further away and all has been well since. The continued lemon oil is mainly because almost every neighbor has a pool and honestly I'm just trying to keep them interested in my water. Recently I've been putting a capful of bleach instead as they really seem to associate chlorine smell with a water source. Most people probably don't have this problem but I've got bubbling hot tubs in every direction and I want my neighbors to not hate me. LoL

[@MoveToAmendVideos]

So you think bleach works better than lemongrass?

[@hatedcritic8066]

OOOhhhhhhh. That is why they don't like my water so close. Thanks for that. I have neighbors with pools on both sides of me so the bleach may lure them back from their pool water sources.

[@kennapop3]

Great Idea ! I have a one acre pond, and a slow moving creek in front of the farm house, but a couple of these would keep me from feeding as many bees to the fish.

[@markschoenhals185]

Cool idea. I have cattle so I have stock tanks. Put lily pads and goldfish in. Bees land on the leaves and don’t drown. The fish eat the moss and larva in water. Only problem is when the cranes stop by spring an fall they eat the fish.

[@hatedcritic8066]

I use gravel, so that there is water in the nooks and crannies and the bees can easily land on it to get a drink without drowning. I like how it is based sort of on the sugar water feeders I use on my hives, with a jar of sugar water slowly feeding down in a vacuum.

[@IceManTX69]

Gravel is a good idea. This was left over Riverrock I had from a different project.

[@kellypalmer2689]

Thanks so much for this vid, very informative, especially the tip about the mosquito dunks :)

[@IceManTX69]

Thank you! Check out some of the comments as there were some good ideas as well. (Ex. really only one hole is needed and not two.)

[@robertdzambazov]

well done, simple and useful.

[@SirTrollingham]

Instead of using rocks to block the holes in your feeder in order to prevent bees from getting inside the bucket, have you considered using a cloth or wire mesh?

[@IceManTX69]

That would work as well as long as it is easily removed and not attached permanently. (You need to be a able to cork the holes when refilling with water.)

[@ClickinChicken]

just copied this today. hope my lid is air tight like it says it is! thanks! :D

[@IceManTX69]

Brian Perendy hey, that's awesome! I can't remember who I got this idea from but it has served me well. I'm glad you were able to get it up and running. I've noticed here in Texas it gets pretty hot and I still have to fill that thing about every three or four days. From evaporation whatever that 5 gallon goes pretty fast when heat kicks up.🌞🌞

[@izilla]

Thank you for sharing

[@jayrobertson1689]

so far I like yours the best,but you didn't explain what lemon grass does? but I'm gonna make this one,thanks

[@theohood783]

The bees are attracted to the smell of the lemon grass, making them want to go towards that water source as apposed to others that may harm them

[@Dirk3672_StupidYT]

Hey, Josh! Nice setup. Couple of questions. Why two holes at the bottom of the bucket? What is the benefit of not putting it closer to that hives? I can see why you would want to use the lemon grass oil when you first set the watering station up, but why continue to use it? The bees have the location locked in by now, right?

[@Ciprian-Amarandei]

I am no expert, but bees are born and die each day, since their lifespan is 40-60 days, so new born bees can appear each day.

[@johnnydop]

Why the need for the anti mosquito donut if it’s a closed system?

[@IceManTX69]

I don't put the donut inside anymore as I don't think it works well that way. I still use them but I place pieces in the exposed water on the outside.

[@b8hovenusa]

Just looked at Amazon. What is the lid called?

[@IceManTX69]

www.amazon.com/dp/B008DRMWIA/ref=cm_sw_su_dp

[@treasurechest2951]

It's less than 3$ at lowe's. "5 gallon bucket lid" and there is one with a spout which is airtight.