Summer is here and the heat is on. Today it is 95 degrees Fahrenheit in our area, which means our little heroes, the pollinators, will be looking for water. Below I am sharing some simple ideas for safe and electric-free water stations for the pollinators near your home. Let’s get started!

1. Use a Chicken Feeder and Garden Pebbles from Dollar Tree or Amazon to make a self-watering bee water station. Adding rocks will prevent bees from drowning and provide a place for them to sit. Bees love water however they are not swimmers which can cause them to drown if nowhere to rest. Place this near an area where bees spend the most time. Ours is near a wildflower patch. During the hot days, a honeybee will use around a gallon of water to help cool and regulate the temperature of their hive.

2. Shallow Dish with Garden Pebbles
A Shallow Dish of any kind with Garden Pepples placed near flowers where bees gather nectar. This is a simple solution to assemble and maintain. Just bring a similar-sized bowl to transfer the rocks to while cleaning the dish (and wash any algae or dirt from the rocks as well) to make maintenance easier. The shallow dish evaporates water so keep an eye on it during sunny days.

3. Hummingbird Feeder

You can buy Hummingbird feeders just about anywhere. We only add a cup of sugar water (1/4 cup sugar dissolved in 1 cup of water) to the feeder to prevent waste.  We clean our feeder at least once or twice a week and replace nectar. On hot days, the sugar water can spoil quickly. See the two websites below for nectar recipes and more facts on hummingbirds.

Creating a Haven for Hummingbirds

How to Make Hummingbird Nectar

4. Hanging Bird Bath

These hanging bird baths come in all sizes and are a cute little water source for birds. Again, these tend to be shallow so keep an eye out on the water level.

5. Birdbath with Solar Panel Fountain

Birds love running water. It acts like a magnet to them and adding a birdbath with a solar power fountain is ideal to keep water circulating while adding noise to attract birds. The solar panel fountain is ideal if you have no source of electricity to hook a pump to.

6. Flowerpot Fountain with Solar Fountain

For this little project, I added large river rocks to the bottom with hardware cloth on the top to keep out snakes and other critters. Then I placed smaller flat river rocks with pebbles. The flower pot was one I found at Home Depot on sale but any large flower pot will work. Adding stones will also make a place for bees to sit and drink water. On top, I added a solar panel fountain to keep water trickling and flowing.

(Use protective eyewear and gloves when cutting wire. Cut a circle to fit the pot and push the hardware cloth down inside the pot)

7. Butterfly Nectar Feeder

This Birdschoice feeder in particular was given to me in a review program and I must say I was so impressed with the simplicity of it. All that is needed was a hook to hang it on. You can use a shepherd’s hook or any hook for that matter.

8. Native Nectar Plants

We added some native nectar plants this year such as the Cardinal flower and native trumpet honeysuckle.

With this heat making sure our little heroes have water stations is so important. Without them, we would not have our flowers, fruits, and veggies.  We make it our responsibility to clean our feeders once a week and add fresh water. You can also plant native nectar-friendly plants that provide of food than any feeder could. Let’s take care of our pollinators as they take care of us. 🐝🦋 Stay hydrated!
Keep going, and keep growing! 

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