Here is another great picture from Wikipedia. This cute honeybee is drinking some water. By the way, it can be hot this time of year, so be sure to have some water available for your honeybees. Just fill a pie pan with water and place a couple of rocks in it. Make sure the rocks rise above the water a bit to give the bees something to stand on. The honeybees will take the water and put it into their hive. As the bees fan their hive entrance, the water evaporates and helps to cool the beehive. Very smart little creatures!
The Bee Space 
Dear Nick,
Tell me please, what would be the best way to give them water – in a pond with fish and salvania, with salt, moving or standing water, with peat moss, close or 20 feet away from the hive ….etc.
Varsham
Hi Varsham! Any clean water source will do. Standing water is preferred and you should give the bees something to land on, floating sticks or something similar would keep drowned bees to a minimum! 20′ is not too far either, you don’t need to set anything right next to the hive, the bees will find it 🙂
Hello Nick. What about salt? I read from Russian sources that salt may cause nosema as it damages the membrane between the stomack and intestines. VARSHAM
Hi Varsham, bees love their salt but too much of anything is a bad thing i guess. I’ve used a saltwater solution to kill weeds around the hive as a natural method of control (it also kills SHB larvae) for years.
Hi. Do you make your own saltwater solution? If so, would you please tell me how to make it, or if you purchase an already made solution may I have the name of the product? Thanks
Hi Debbie, I don’t use the salt inside my hives, only as a ground clear and to kill pupating SHB larvae. I use a half pound of salt in my 2 gallon sprayer for spraying the ground around and under the hives. If you try this be extra careful not to get any salt on inside the hive, it will kill brood.