Day 5: Create a pollinator watering station

Today’s kindness challenge is a fun one! You may have heard me talk about how bees need fresh water and use it in several ways. They need it to help cool the hive down in the hot summer months, and they use it to help thin honey to make it easier to consume.

Consider creating a clean water source for bees and other pollinators in your yard! The important thing is that the water stays fresh and that there are places for the bees to land to drink. If you ever see a bee drowning at your watering station just grab a small stick and let the bee crawl up on it, then set it on one of the landing pads, or the ground. She will usually sit for a bit to dry herself off before flying off, so you don’t need to be nervous about getting so close.

Here is one of my watering stations. I bought a small galvanized tub and a bag of river rocks. Just because you’re creating something useful doesn’t mean it can’t be cute! Galvanized is important because it means it won’t rust. You could use many things for your container, even a plant saucer could work, and some people use wine corks, sticks or even sponge pieces for the bees to land.  When I’m watering my flowers I make sure to add some water to the tub if needed, and once a week I’ll flush it out a bit to make sure the water stays fresh. Mosquitoes take about 7-10 days from egg to adult, so we want to avoid breeding those.