Pet Lovers

[spumoni99]

I have heard that a shallow dish with marbles and water is a good way to keep bees from trying to drink pool water and drowning. I have tried this and it doesn't seem to help, does anyone have any ideas?  Bees are so important I hate it when I see them dead in the pool.

[Kachina624]

How in the heck do they survive natural bodies of water just fine?

[spumoni99]

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@Kachina624 wrote:

How in the heck do they survive natural bodies of water just fine?

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They probably drown there too, I have no idea. They probably get some water from  the moisture on flowers in the morning maybe?  We have lots of roses all around the pool, that probably doesn't help either.  

[KingstonMom]

Thank you for caring and trying to help our bees, they need it!

We have Savannah Bee Co.(retail & online), here on the island and those guys will happily come over, apocalypse suits/ smoke cans and all, to retrieve them!

[CamilleP]

I used to find bees dead in my bird baths until I got fountains for both of them.   I bought the Bernini fountains from the Q, but since the battery compartments are not water tight and the batteries corrode and die so fast it's ridiculous, I went to a local hardware store and bought electric water pumps that are sold for small ponds, and use those instead.  I just make sure the fountain pump speed is slow, so the water just trickles out of the four drain spouts into the bird bath, so the bees can crawl up to them and drink without risk of being washed into the water.  The birds like the moving water, and the bees seem drawn to it as well.  I suspect the water in your pool is moving, just because the volume is so large, and the water with the pebbles in it is not moving, so the bees still go to your pool.  If you have a bird fountain, you could still put the pebbles in the bottom of it, and add a fountain, so the depth is never deep enough to drown bees, and maybe the moving water will draw the bees away from the pool?  I have both my fountains plugged into an extension cord that plugs into a timer, so they only run during daylight hours and I don't have to be going out to turn them on and off twice a day, but I do flush and refill with fresh water every day anyway., after I've re-filled the bird and squirrel feeders.  Hope this helps, @spumoni99 .

[spumoni99]

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@CamilleP wrote:

I used to find bees dead in my bird baths until I got fountains for both of them.   I bought the Bernini fountains from the Q, but since the battery compartments are not water tight and the batteries corrode and die so fast it's ridiculous, I went to a local hardware store and bought electric water pumps that are sold for small ponds, and use those instead.  I just make sure the fountain pump speed is slow, so the water just trickles out of the four drain spouts into the bird bath, so the bees can crawl up to them and drink without risk of being washed into the water.  The birds like the moving water, and the bees seem drawn to it as well.  I suspect the water in your pool is moving, just because the volume is so large, and the water with the pebbles in it is not moving, so the bees still go to your pool.  If you have a bird fountain, you could still put the pebbles in the bottom of it, and add a fountain, so the depth is never deep enough to drown bees, and maybe the moving water will draw the bees away from the pool?  I have both my fountains plugged into an extension cord that plugs into a timer, so they only run during daylight hours and I don't have to be going out to turn them on and off twice a day, but I do flush and refill with fresh water every day anyway., after I've re-filled the bird and squirrel feeders.  Hope this helps, @spumoni99 .

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Great ideas!  The pool does have a spill out and so when the vacuum is running the spillout or waterfall causes movement in the water.  That is a good idea for a fountain I will try that...thanks!

[Glittergal]

There are devices you can buy online to help them and other animals (toads, chipmunks, etc.) Google "pool animal escape ramp."  

[spumoni99]

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@Glittergal wrote:

There are devices you can buy online to help them and other animals (toads, chipmunks, etc.) Google "pool animal escape ramp."  

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Thanks I will check it out, in 30 years I have only had one rat drown in the pool luckily but I do worry about it.

[ValuSkr]

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@spumoni99 wrote:

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@Glittergal wrote:

There are devices you can buy online to help them and other animals (toads, chipmunks, etc.) Google "pool animal escape ramp."  

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Thanks I will check it out, in 30 years I have only had one rat drown in the pool luckily but I do worry about it.

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If I found a dead rat in the pool, I don't think I'd want to swim in it again - chlorine or not.

[moonandthestars]

I@Glittergal @spumoni99  I have those ramps - I set two of them up for my pool.  They work very well.  The bees would have to make their way to them - sometimes they can float to safety - on a leaf or swim a bit.  I save a lot of them myself when I find them struggling.  I'm scared of bees tho, so I pick them up on little planter saucers, which I keep near the pool. The ramps are mostly for the chipmunks, mice, frogs, etc. but really the bugs do need to find some safe ground so they can regroup and dry off.  There are different versions of the ramps.

Last year I personally worked to save a little chimpmunk in my pool - he wasn't swimming in the right direction to get to one and he was looking tired, so I grabbed one of the ramps and brought it to him.  It worked like magic and I was so happy he understood. It was beautiful.  I also used them one year when a mamma duck brought all her tiny ducklings to my pool and then couldn't get them out - of course they were trying to get out but couldn't.  So, ramps to the rescue.

Best invention!  I think I'll get more for this year.