One of my goals is to be as good a neighbor as possible. I oriented the bee's flight line in between my house and another neighbor. One of the reasons I aimed them this way is because our other neighbor has a pool. Growing up, I always remember bees being attracted to pool water. They never bothered or stung anyone . . we would always just flip them onto the concrete and they would dry off and fly away.
Thus, I bought a mixing tub for $5 at Home Depot for the watering source. Since the sides were slippery, I added two bricks and large rock that you can see below. I was worried that the piece of wood was treated, thus I removed it.
Thus, I bought a mixing tub for $5 at Home Depot for the watering source. Since the sides were slippery, I added two bricks and large rock that you can see below. I was worried that the piece of wood was treated, thus I removed it.
I moved the tub to a few different locations because I never saw bees visiting my pool, thus I did some research . . .
One thing I read was they seem to be attracted to dirty water. One suggestion was to add a towel and some bleach (simulates chlorine that bees love so much). I also added some salt for minerals, and even a little sugar on the towel to sweeten the deal some. This still was not good enough . . . then I heard to spray lemon scented Pledge on the ground around the tub . . . THIS was the magic that finally lured the bees. I supposed you could use lemongrass oil as well.
I also used some of my swarm lure that consisted of lemongrass oil and beeswax. Within a few minutes, the first bee arrived. (but it was the lemon scented Pledge that really made the difference).
Later, while checking on my drip irrigation for the garden, I noticed they seem to like my "button" drippers (hard to see below, but it is hanging on at the 6 o'clock position.
Another bee getting a sip from my drip irrigation
