natural bee keeping: Salt

i was wondering in natural bee keeping providing the bee's with a small salt pool for the 4 hives is that like cheating? i try not to give them anything and just let them do there thing but... bee's need salt right?

I don't currently have bees, but I did in the past, and I never gave them salt. I have never heard they need it. If you have a reference, please share.

Peter Smith wrote: I don't currently have bees, but I did in the past, and I never gave them salt. I have never heard they need it. If you have a reference, please share.

i havent seen a study but when i had a glass of salt water in a tumbler there was bee's all around it even tho we have a bunch of points of water with lil rocks in them for them. so i didnt get it. this has happen twice it made me think should i be giving them salt water somewhere.


bee's around the salt water. i was going to use it for grill the first time i put water a little salt and i ran inside to get the rosemary oil. i got interrupted before i could come back out and finish up and put the shrimp on. saw bee's around the cup. few months later i did it again randomly because i was thinking about if they needed it. or is it like sugar or something. something they dont need but like the taste of. like how you see bee's near manure sometimes. something in there they seem to like. anyway the second time i tried it 2 or 3 bee's . a lot less salt. you could barely taste the salt in the water. im gonna try again when the summer comes i think.. with a small area just a tiny been of salt and i'll change out the water for a week or so and see what happens this spring. im just kinda wondering how bad this is or is this something they find out in nature anyways and im just making more work for myself

Bees have a need for a small amount of minerals and will often to be found drinking at "dirty " or muddy water when the need takes them.
Salt in its. pure form , sodium chloride might not be enough for them I would suggest a muddy pool instead might be better .
They definitly need water

David

David Livingston wrote:Bees have a need for a small amount of minerals and will often to be found drinking at "dirty " or muddy water when the need takes them.
Salt in its. pure form , sodium chloride might not be enough for them I would suggest a muddy pool instead might be better .
They definitly need water

David

if I put more stones in my pond will that work i have some right now for insects and bee's but it's not in a muddy area. or maybe some sand or something im not sure .

There is a maximum amount of salt that you are allowed to give them. If I recall correctly it was 5%, will need to check it out, but it is of most importance that you know that giving them too much is dangerous. Some beekeepers tend to leave nugget of salt that is intended for the cattle near the place that they
place their water (water for the bees). For starters that may work well, only problem is lower mineral count than what you can have in the sea water salt.

Why do they need it at all? What benefit is it to the bees?

Bees naturally go to drink "pee" from cows and other animals seeking minerals that they exert. Some minerals are not so easy to find in the nature so by making it easy for them to reach them you improve overall health of the hive. To compare it, imagine what happens with humans without the salt.