If the birds thought I set out the bath for them this year they are sorely mistake. I’m not the one calling the shots, however. The neighbor’s honeybee hive has officially designated my birdbath as a bee drinking establishment. I’ve had bees drinking from my birdbaths for several years now, but I usually don’t see them until about mid-summer and there are never this many.
Thankfully I’m not afraid of honeybees (those mean Yellowjackets are another story) because this bunch makes it very clear that they are in charge. If a bird lands on the feeder they start buzzing around its head. Most of the birds heed the warning and leave.
They buzz around my head, too, if I try to add water to the bath. And there’s no way I can completely change the water or clean the bath. I have to do that at the crack of dawn when the temperature is cooler and they are all safe in their hive.
I don’t know how many individual honeybees visit during the day, but they really suck up a lot of water. Sometimes I have to add water to the bath twice a day—even on cool days when there isn’t a lot of evaporation.
Honeybees need water for making brood food and for keeping their hives cool on hot days. I’m guessing my neighbors (who live across the boulevard) are not supplying their bees with a water source because I’ve got a steady stream of visitors from daybreak to dusk.
I’m still looking out for my bird friends. I added a second bath just for them. It’s got steeper sides and the bees are too cautious to use it.