Hello,
My neighbor has recently started tending honeybee hives in her backyard, adjacent to our saltwater pool (about 50' away). Although she has w...
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Honeybees & Salt Water Pools #912202
Asked July 31, 2025, 3:51 PM EDT
Hello,
My neighbor has recently started tending honeybee hives in her backyard, adjacent to our saltwater pool (about 50' away). Although she has water sources in her yard and we have another pollinator-friendly water source in our yard, the bees seem to primarily want to drink the salted pool water. This is bad for the bees because they are often drowning in the pool while trying to get to the saltwater. And this is bad for our swimmers because the bees line up on the ladder and on the pool edges to drink, making it hard to get in and out without getting stung.
In my limited research about how to address this situation, I've read that honeybees like saltwater because it provides them with essential minerals. Can you please tell me more about this? And do you think it would help the situation if my neighbor provided a saltwater option in-between her hive and our pool? Would that be healthy for the bees? If so, what would be the best way to do that, and the best salt to use? Is there anything else that can be done to attract them to her water sources over our saltwater pool?
I appreciate any advice you can offer! Thank you.
Multnomah CountyOregon
Expert Response
Thank you for your question. I am sorry to hear your problem with water foraging honey bees. Unfortunately this is a very common problem during hot summers when honey bee foragers tend to collect more water for evaporative cooling of the hive and also for their metabolism. There is no reliable technique/way to deter these water seeking honey bees from coming to the swimming pool, but you can try to limit their numbers to the pool by providing few more attractive water sources closer to the hive. There is gap in knowledge regarding the exact amounts of each mineral that honey bees need, but it is known that they need Ca, Mg, K, Na. Hence, I am unable to provide you the exact doses of these minerals. You could try purchasing a mixture of salts (NaCl, KCl, CaCl2, MgCl2) and mix them in very small concentrations in water and provide it closer to the hives. You may also have to restrict the pool access to bees for at least couple of days by covering the pool during the day time, to discourage bees coming to the pool. As the bees are already trained to coming to the pool, without shutting access for bees may not yield good results even if you provide more water sources near the hives. Hope this information helps.