Looking for a fun garden DIY project? This Honeybee Watering Station provides water for bees and other pollinators. Easy to make from an upcycled plant pot saucer, small stones, and colorful gems.
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Table of Contents
How to Help Save Honeybees:
The honeybee population is declining at an alarming rate. This does not bode well for people who like to eat food. In order for farmers to grow food and for that food to end up on store shelves, we need bees.
There are lots of ways to help save the pollinators. One of the best ideas is to plant things in your yard. Whether you enjoy planting bright flowers or tasty vegetables, plant something this spring and do your part to save the pollinators (and ourselves!) from extinction! Plant bee-friendly flowers and avoid chemical pesticides.
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Should I put water out for bees? YES!
Honeybees need a supply of water and that is not always easy to find for such a tiny creature! I made a DIY bee watering station in the garden for them. This is a simple garden DIY project that can support the pollinators in your garden. You could also make a mason bee house which is a very easy bee friendly craft for kids and adults.
How do you make a bee water station?
One honeybee may visit up to 2,000 flowers daily. Their wings beat almost 10,000 times per minute. They are incredibly hard-working little insects that work up quite a thirst. Check out The Bug Squad for more information about why we need to supply water to honeybees.
It’s very simple to make a bee watering station. Just plant some bee-friendly flowers (think bright colors and pretty smells!), place a shallow dish with some small stones in it on the ground, and fill the dish with just enough water to almost cover the rocks. Then sit back and wait for your pollinators to come visit your garden! Make sure to keep your honeybee watering station topped off with fresh water so the bees know to come back daily!
Check out this cute video of honeybees drinking water!
Here are some other gardening articles you may enjoy
- How to Attract Beneficial Insects to Your Garden
- Edible Gardening Tips for Beginning Gardeners
- Love Tea? Plant a Teabag Garden!
Homemade Bee Water Station Supplies
Keep bees hydrated with this easy garden craft. The tray with stones and gems is shallow enough to allow drinking without the risk of them drowning.
- One 12 to 16-inch wide shallow tray. You can use an old pie dish or a flower pot base.
- Small stones of various sizes
- Flat glass stones for decoration if desired (bees do like bright colors!)
- Bee-friendly plants. Suggestions: Crocus, hyacinth, borage, echinacea, snapdragons foxglove, zinnias, sedum, and asters. If you plant food crops nearby, you should see an increase in your harvest thanks to your busy friends. Consider growing your own garlic, or some other type of edible gardening project.
Directions for this bee watering station DIY:
- Find a level area of your yard and plant your bee-friendly flowers according to the directions on the tag. Make sure you plant in an area that gets appropriate sunlight for the flowers you are planting.
- Level the soil or mulch and place your tray on it
- Fill the tray with the small stones and gems if using
- Add water. You want the water to be close to the top of the stones but not totally covering them. The bees will need to land on the stones in order to drink.
- Check your honeybee watering station regularly and keep it topped off with water.
How do YOU plan to help save the pollinators this spring? Check out my recent post about what honeybees do all day and find 10 actionable ways you can help support their survival in your garden. Or, check out my Etsy shop for some honey bee activity sheets for kids.
Honeybee Watering Station Garden DIY Project
This Honeybee Watering Station provides water for bees and other pollinators. Easy to make from an upcycled plant pot saucer, small stones, and colorful gems.
Materials
- One 12 to 16-inch wide shallow tray. You can use an old pie dish or a flower pot base.
- Small stones of various sizes
- Flat glass stones for decoration if desired (bees do like bright colors!)
- Bee-friendly plants. Suggestions: Crocus, hyacinth, borage, echinacea, snapdragons foxglove, zinnias, sedum, and asters. If you plant food crops nearby, you should see an increase in your harvest thanks to your busy friends. Consider growing your own garlic, or some other type of edible gardening project.
Instructions
- Find a level area of your yard and plant your bee friendly flowers according to the directions on the tag. Make sure you plant in an area that gets appropriate sunlight for the flowers you are planting.
- Level the soil or mulch and place your tray on it
- Fill the tray with the small stones and gems if using
- Add water. You want the water to be close to the top of the stones but not totally covering them. The bees will need to land on the stones in order to drink.
- Check your honeybee watering station regularly and keep it topped off with water.
Like this garden craft? Pin it for later!
Diane is a professional blogger and nationally certified pharmacy technician at Good Pill Pharmacy. She earned her BS in Microbiology at the University of New Hampshire and has worked in cancer research, academics, and biotechnology. Concern over the growing incidence of human disease and the birth of her children led her to begin living a more natural life. She quickly realized that the information she was learning along the way could be beneficial to many others and started blogging and freelance writing to share this knowledge with others. Learn more about her HERE.
Diane, this was a very well written and informative post. I had no idea that one honeybee could visit so many flowers in one day. I think this is a great idea for our garden this year. We have a local farm that just got a grant for $10,000 to help save honeybees. Super cool!
I have all those plants in my garden but I didn’t think to provide a water basin. Westnile virus was keeping me away from using any still water containers in my garden…Will have to revisit that idea. Thx for the idea!
I am curious to see how this holds up to mosquitoes in my yard as well. I am hoping it is too small and shallow a pool to cause a problem! You could also plant it near a plant like lemon balm or something that naturally repels mosquitoes?
Don’t think a mosquito thing is a problem. I believe they need a deeper level of water and especially water that sits there and becomes stagnant. Like a small pond. Unfed by a spring. A small dish like this would be refilled quite often. I see no problems at all. There are cheap water pumps out there to keep things moving if that is a real issue with concerns. Keep the flow going one way or another.
Mine dries out within a few days and I let it occasionally so prevent any mosquitoes from hatching!
I love this idea. I didn’t even think they need water.
What a thoughtful idea! I love it. I had no idea they needed water either. After visiting all those flowers I’d imagine they love a drink.
I’m new at gardening I find this to be very valuable information. Thank you!
glad I could help and good luck with your gardening endeavors!
I have pets that would use this for themselves if the tray is on ground level. Will they visit if it was elevated a few feet off the ground? Do the bees visit water fountains?
I believe pollinators like standing water or just very slowly moving? You will have better luck if you put it near something brightly colored that is flowering!