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| Coming in for a landing |
My birthday was about a week ago. My husband always takes the kids shopping for me each year. Each year they pick out something special all on their own. Sometimes, it is jewelry, soap, candles or things that just remind them of me. My littlest one, Miss M, was having the most terrible time finding something for me. She just kept searching until she came upon this sweet little dish with birds. As I unwrapped it, I told her it was perfect for the garden. Before, I left for Seattle, I haphazardly placed it on the railing of our deck, not knowing where its final resting place would be in the garden.
While I was away it rained for days. The little dish soon overflowed with fresh rain water. When I returned I found my honeybees using it as a source of water. Each day I refill it with fresh water for them. There are many birdbaths to drink from scattered among the gardens on our property, however, I think this is their favorite. I love to sit and watch them dance, perch and sip the cool water with their long probosci. They don’t have a care in the world that I am there, watching. This year’s birthday present really was a surprise for me and the bees.
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| Sipping water from the edge |
Photo Credit: Tilly’s Nest
7 thoughts on “The Birthday Present”
Sounds like your little one knows you pretty well.
Maybe the size makes them feel safer. Not so big. What a sweet story. Happy birthday.
Lovely present, lovely post. Happy birthday!
This is so sweet. What great little bowl this is and it is absolutely perfect.
@ 3Beeze Homestead
So nice. What a wonderful gift, birds and bees.
I just took a beekeeping class & they really stressed the importance of putting out a water source near the hive first thing, so the bees won't go drink from the neighbor's pool, etc. They also said to add rocks or corks to the water dish, so that the bees don't drown. From your picture, it looks like they are drinking fine w/o rocks/pebbles to land on in the dish. Have you had any drowned bees in the dish?
Hi there heathashli. You are right. This little dish in this post is about 4 inches in diameter. I have not had any bees drown in it. It is on our back deck. Near the hives, I have a very shallow birdbath that has a center landing pad for the bees. You can see it here in this post. https://www.tillysnest.com/2012/04/placement-of-beehives.html
I think when the water is deeper than an inch or inch and a half the bees might begin to drown. A strategically placed twig, rock, marbles, or pebbles can be helpful in deeper watering containers. I really hope you enjoy the hobby! It is great fun and I love learning so much about these vital insect to our food supply.