craft Sarah is the author of craftinvaders.co.uk where she blogs about her original craft tutorials, recipes, foraging, and developing wellbeing through being By Sa rah Wh iting creative, spending time outdoors and connecting with nature
Bee Water Station PROVIDING A SAFE, REGULAR SOURCE OF WATER FOR THE BEES IN YOUR GARDEN. CHOOSING AN AREA THAT SUITS BOTH YOU AND THEM SHOULD HELP PREVENT THEM FROM TRYING TO GATHER IT FROM OTHER PLACES, SUCH AS SWIMMING OR PADDLING POOLS
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ees need access to safe water sources (they are, after all, extremely busy doing very important work) and all you need is a simple water station in your garden for bees and other insects. A shallow container and some stones, marbles or twigs for them to land on is ideal. Our bee waterer sits in one of our herb beds in our raised vegetable garden. We spray painted it blue, a colour we know bees can see and used pretty coloured marbles to provide a platform for insects to land on and prevent drowning. Materials ‐ Terracotta pot and saucer (I used a saucer that is 7 inches in diameter and the pot in 5 inches high) ‐ Glass marbles ‐ Ultra-strong, fast-drying clear glue (I use Bostik power repair glue) ‐ Non-toxic spray paint (optional) ‐ Newspaper / cardboard for protection ‐ Brushes and paint (optional)
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Method: 1. If you want to create a coloured bee water station it’s easier to paint everything before they are glued together. We sprayed ours a gorgeous blue to help it stand out to the bees and left everything to dry overnight. If you prefer, you can leave it as natural terracotta, or really go to town with the design! 2. Around the outside edge of the base of the pot, carefully apply the ultra-hold glue and fix together firmly until the glue has set and it’s set solid. What about mosquitoes? Because the dish is so shallow and needs filling up regularly we haven’t experienced a problem with mosquitoes. They lay their eggs on the surface of the water so letting it overflow when its filled up should also remove any that were there. Should I fix the marbles to the dish? It’s better to keep everything in the dish removable, it’s important that you can clean the dish and all items in it regularly, to ensure a clean water source.
