How to Make a Bee Water Station for Your Garden

Homemade Bee Water Station for Your Garden

Everyone enjoys helping bees and other pollinators.  This is especially true of those of us who enjoy gardening.  Practicing bee friendly gardening techniques can make a big difference for our bees, wasps and other beneficial insects. There are many small ways you can help – even if you only have a small space.  Once cute idea is a homemade bee water station.

Every garden is a place of beauty. This is true whether you have a formal garden with hedges and roses or a backyard vegetable garden.

If you hope to help bees, plant flowers that attract bees. A variety of blooming plants will provide nectar and pollen for the insect visitors.

But pollinators need more than food and shelter, they need water too. There are many different ways to provide a water source in the garden.

One option is a simple DIY water source using a wide saucer, this is something even young children can help create.

For the older set, using clay pots to create a color bee water station is a wonderful garden craft. 

Decorate it however you wish, paint it or leave it natural. It looks lovely in any corner of the garden.

A bold bright color will make it stand out while the neutral tans and greens allow the water station to blend.  Either one is fine, because thirsty bees will smell the water and come to drink.

How Honey Bees Use Water

Honey bees collect water and take it back to their colony.  In the hive it is used to thin thick honey for eating. 

Using cross ventilation by wing fanning, bees place drops of water along the surface of the honeycomb and cool the hive.

If you are a beekeeper with several colonies, you need a larger water source.  A thirsty hive with thousands of worker bees can consume a great deal of water on a hot day. 

Speed some time considering the best place create a water source for your hives.

Otherwise, a small water source like this is beneficial for a few area bees, wasps, butterflies, etc. And, it makes a cute addition to your garden.

Materials Needed:

• terra cotta clay pot 8″ with matching saucer
• paint primer
• craft paint for outdoors (optional)
• clear coat acrylic spray paint
• brushes – paint marker – pencil
• small rocks

How to Make a Bee Water Station

Step 1: Turn the pot upside down and spray paint the outside with primer.  This will seal the pot and make the surface more suitable for decorating with colorful paint.  I choose a neutral color – let dry for several hours.

Step 2: Use a pencil to lightly trace simple flowers or designs on your pot.  Remember, it will be upside down so draw your flowers in the correct orientation. 

When you are pleased with your design – use outdoor craft paint to add color.  A black paint marker makes a nice bold outline around your colors.

Step 3: Once the paint is dry, you may wish to spray the pot and saucer with clear acrylic sealer and let dry again.  This is to keep your colors looking fresh for a longer time.

Step 4: With the pot upside down, set the saucer on top.  You could glue this in place if you wish but I decided that I would not.

Step 5:  Let the bee water station dry and cure for a couple of days.  Then, choose a nice place in your garden, place a few large rocks in the saucer to give the bees safe drinking places.  Add water and enjoy.

Conclusion:

The bee garden craft is as fun for the cute effect as practicality.  It does not hold a lot of water so you will want to fill it often. 

However, for a thirsty bee or butterfly – every drop counts.  It also makes a sweet gift for any bee lover.

Beekeeper Charlotte