How to Make a Safe and Easy Bee Watering Station for Pollinators

Provide a safe water source for the bees and other pollinators in garden with a DIY watering station. It’s easy, can serve as a focal point and decorative garden ornament or *bee* as simple as you like!

Happy Friday! If you’re a bee and pollinator lover, I have a fun DIY that comes together in minutes that provides a decorative element in the garden and serves a safe and functional water source for the bees too!

Did you know there are more than 4,000 native bee species in the U.S. with over 500 species here in North Carolina? They vary in size, shape, color and carry pollen in various places on their body and even have different seasons of activity. Bees and other pollinators all need fresh water to drink. Honey bees use water to regulate the temperature of the hive, feed young bees, and dilute stored honey. A deep water source like a creek, lake or even birdbath puts bees at risk of drowning or being food for other predators, as they can’t swim.

Providing a safe water source is simple and fun way to help our pollinators. You put together a watering station in just minutes in your garden, making it as simple or as decorative as you like.

To make this watering station, you’ll want a shallow saucer. Bees actually see color in the blue-violet spectrum better than other hues so I chose this blue glazed ceramic saucer that I thought might help them find this watering station more quickly! It’s an 11″ saucer that I found at Lowe’s and was also available in a 13-inch size and in teal and green.

To give your bees and pollinators a safe place to land you’ll want to fill the saucer with small pebbles, rocks or marbles. I picked up a 2 lb. bag of small stones I found at Dollar Tree.

For a decorative base of my watering station, I used a DIY Mosaic Flower Pot.

A fun DIY and way to upcycle your broken dishes or thrift store finds with a trash-to-treasure craft and create one-of-a-kind flower pots for your garden or for gifts!

Simply invert your pot of choice, top with your saucer, fill with pebbles or marbles and add water. . .voilà . . . a bee watering station in less than 5 minutes!

Make sure the pebbles or marbles aren’t completely submerged so bees, butterflies, wasps, ladybugs or other beneficial insects and pollinators can drink safely while perched on the stones.

In the heat of the summer, you’ll need to add water daily due to evaporation. I’ve topped ours with fresh water daily with fresh water this week with our 80+ degree weather, reaching the 90’s this weekend.

A cast iron bee that I’ve had for many years buzzed over and was added for a touch of whimsy. . .

You can make a simple or decorative watering station, using any terra cotta or garden pot with shallow saucer for a bee watering station. The only thing to remember is to keep the water level low enough that the stones or marbles aren’t completely submerged, topping off with fresh water frequently and cleaning as needed.

Place your bee watering station in garden where you already see bees visiting their favorite flowers to help them locate your watering station more quickly.

Buzz over to see Garden Blooms Around the Potting Shed, HERE.

If you love seeing bees, butterflies, birds and other wildlife visit your garden, consider certifying it as a wildlife habitat.

 It’s fun, makes a positive difference and easier than you might think!

You can find out more, HERE.

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 Between Naps on the Porch