Feeding the Honeybees...

by Buster Evans

2 Materials

Easy

I found a way to feed our "Friends" the HONEYBEES...

feeding the honeybees , animals, home decor, pets animals

I wasn't getting hummingbirds to my feeders like I normally do.. So I changed out the food and made it a bit stronger than usual.. I thought I may not have got the mixture right

but by doing so I learned that if you go over the 1 cup sugar to 4 cups water (approx) ratio for hummingbirds which I did (by about a cup of sugar) you get HONEYBEES.. these two pics are not an actual depiction to what I first saw on the feeder.. IT WAS COVERED!! (The bottom)

Now Im not a beekeeper , Nor do I want to get stung by bees, but they were everywhere around the feeder , to the point the hummingbirds couldn't feed.. so I had to do Something...

I didnt get a picture of it but to start with, I gorrilla glued a plastic coffee can lid to the bottom of a jar, once dry, I filled the jar with water, to make a weighted base for the feeder and to get it up above ground/porch rail (shown here) level..

A trick I have learned to keep ants out of your hummingbird feeders is to use motor oil on the hanger wire.. they won't cross it...

so I coated the jar in motor oil for that purpose..

The coffee can lid was WAYYYY tooo shallow the bees had the food gone in no time...

So Plan B..

I was trying to find something with a bit more depth, and noticed an old hummingbird feeder which had leaked where the top and bottom of the feeding station come together... I had it sitting on the porch still from where I had bought a replacement feeder. So I separated the bottom off and set it on the coffee can lid...

IF you notice in the pictures there is a hummingbird feeder beside the bee feeder, thats the one the bees were on originally, I literally took it down from the top of the porch and set it on the rail to get the bees to transfer to the bee feeder.

The bees really like the sweet water

I got to thinking this may not be the ideal place to "entertain" bees ... On the front porch with people in and out... so After dark when the feeder was empty both of food and bees, I brought it in to make some changes...

I had an old Plastic flower pot that I had already cut once before, so I cut it up again into legs and a roof over the feeder.. Now I will be able to move it away from the house some so people and bees won't be in too close proximity with each other...

I had it filled and ready early morning and didn't take long before the guest arrived for breakfast..

With the heat and dryness we are having , the flowers aren't as plentiful this year, and it doesnt hurt to help the bees out... they do a lot for us, so this is my turn to return the favor....

Maybe some of you can do the same thing where you live ,

Just keep in mind children, guest, pets etc.. and plan your location accordingly...

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4 comments

Lesly Roberts on Jul 28, 2016
As a beekeeper you should not be feeding bees sugar and water they should be out foraging for pollen the honey they make out of sugar water is not real honey. The only time we feed the B's is if it's a new hive or if they need help to get through the winter

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- Buster Evans on Jul 28, 2016
  Not being a beekeeper myself I didn't know this.... The bees came to my hummingbird feeders. So I thought I was doing a good thing... I thought aparently they were missing something because of the heat / drought.. Is there anything they could be fed or do you just leave them to fend for themselves?
  
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- Buster Evans on Jul 28, 2016
  As an adendem to my previous reply .... I did check with two local beekeepers about feeding sugar water to honeybees and both said a lot of people DO feed honeybees sugar water and it will not cause any problems... One of them said that that with flower pollen being less plentiful at this time , it wouldn't hurt because the sugar water would supplement the deficient . One said it is. More of a matter of opinion as to the good or bad use of sugar water... Much like choosing white over wheat bread . I'm not trying to discredit. Lesley's comment.. Just passing on the additional information I learned.. Thanks
  
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Hillela G. on Aug 01, 2016
Cool solution! Thank you for sharing

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