Category Archives: General Comments and Discussions

Chicken waterer used to water bee colonies

General Comments and Discussions

From GM:  My father made his money with chicken eggs and as such he had automatic poultry waterers. Reading your article it seems to me they would be good for bee waterers as they basically need no attention to the keep water available to the bees. His were about a 6′ trough with a float controlled inlet from a pressure (home well) water source. They come in different sizes. Here is one source http://www.qcsupply.com/275005-biddie-drinker-with-hose.html

    The only problem I can see is getting the right size for the needs of the hives. I would put sand up to the level of the water. Sand has more pore space  thus more water surface than gravel,( check with the civil engineering department at the college), and no chance for drowning. These waterers would have the same need to be raised above predator available level and covered with 1/2″ hardware cloth to keep out the birds.

My Maple Mystery Part 2

General Comments and Discussions

To date, I am in the minority.  For most of you, Maple is an obvious, viable source of early spring pollen.  I certainly don’t doubt your observations.  On my 4 medium-sized Maples, with binoculars, for about 5 observations on 4 different days, I could see may be 10-15 bees per observation.  No clouds of bees.  No hum of bees.  Just the occasional forager.  Certainly, these casual observations are not science.  There are far too many variables not considered.  In Ohio, beekeepers have the same issue with soybeans.  Rarely, rarely a surplus honey crop from soybean – yet in other states, beekeepers routinely get major crops.   I will be watching my maples again next year.