You have to be creative in finding a solution to keep bee’s from drowning in fountains and bird baths. I was guilt ridden while scooping dead honey bees from my fountain and bird bath. I have an easy, attractive and fairly cheap solution to keep our local honey bees from drowning.
I used 1 bag of river rock purchased from Home Depot to create a beach entry inside the fountain. Wash the rocks before starting, then just pile them up in the lower sections of the fountain so they reach the edge. I completely filled the second tier of the fountain with rock, but left the top-tier for the birds.
For my solar bird bath, I put a few of the larger sized rocks around the edge only. This insures a dry landing spot for the bees and the birds still have room to do their bathing.
I recently read an article that suggested adding pieces of cork. They float and it gives somewhere for the bee’s land and sip. The bee’s haven’t tried it for 3 weeks…maybe cork smells?
You can get creative by choosing what ever rocks or glass marbles you like. Note that bigger is easier to remove when it comes time to clean the fountain and use less rock than you think. My husband got carried away and added more bags, it took me an hour to remove them before cleaning.
Now I don’t have to witness Bee suicides as often. They have a safer way of getting a drink by crawling on the wet rocks that are sticking out of the water. I haven’t been able to save all of them, but it’s much better than before.
