Create A Bee & Butterfly Water Source

If you want to attract bees and butterflies to your garden you need to create a water source for them.

The second thing you’ll want to do is plant herbs and flowers that will attract them to your garden space.

How To Provide A Water Source:

For a water source, choose a shallow container. A terra-cotta saucer is perfect.

Where To Locate Your Water Source:

Place the water source near their favorite flowers and plants.

Provide a flat surface such as a rock in your saucer where they can safely perch and bask in the sun.

You can also put a stone in your bird bath for them to land on.

Make sure the water source is in a protected location. Put your water source near shrubs, flowers, or grasses.

Freshen the water each day and avoid using pesticides in your yard. Thoroughly wash containers weekly.

If cats run around freely in your yard, place the water source above where the cat can reach.

Why Bees Need Water Sources:

• Air conditioning – During hot days, bees will spread a thin film of water over the baby bee cells. The water will evaporate, cooling the hive.
• Feeding baby bees – Nurse bees feed developing larvae a diet of water, pollen, nectar, and royal jelly. This diet can be up to 80% water on the first day.
• Diluting honey – Bees eat their own honey. Sometimes, the honey will crystallize or get too thick. When this happens, bees use water to dilute the honey and make it drinkable again.
• Water is also an important way for bees to obtain essential nutrients.

DIY Water Sources For Bees:

Bees can drink from your bird bath. But bees can’t swim, so you should add rocks to give them places to stand on.

You might consider buying a cheap hummingbird feeder and putting water in it for the bees.

You could also use one of those continuously filling water sources that are for pets. Add little rocks in the basin for the bees to stand on.

Water feeders aren’t necessary to supply water for butterflies because they get the liquid they need from nectar.

Bee Rafts:

Bee rafts are things that float in water for bees to rest on when obtaining water. Things you may already have that will float in water are corks or packing peanuts.

In a pond, it could be a lily pad. Anything with a surface for them to rest on.

Colors That Attract Butterflies:

Butterflies can see colors and are attracted to bold and warm colors like yellow, pink, red, purple, lavender, blue, green, and orange.

Hummingbirds are attracted to red tubular flowers, while butterflies like open-faced yellow and purple flowers.

Colors That Attract Bees:

The most likely colors to attract bees, according to scientists, are purple, violet, and blue.

Plants on the blue and yellow end of the color spectrum attract bees because those are the colors they can easily perceive.

Darker colors such as red appear black to bees. Since black is the absence of color, bees are not naturally attracted to plants with red hues.

Provide A Puddling Source:

If you see butterflies on moist sand or mud and they appear to be nibbling, this is called “puddling.” They do this to obtain minerals from the soil.

You can provide a puddling source by placing a saucer or shallow pan in your garden and filling it with coarse moist sand. (Sand keeps water from evaporating).

Plants That Attract Butterflies:

• Alyssum
• Aster
• Bee balm
• Butterfly bush
• Calendula
• Cosmos
• Daylily
• Delphinium
• Dianthus
• Fennel
• Globe thistle
• Goldenrod
• Hollyhock
• Lavender
• Liatris
• Marigold
• Musk mallow
• Nasturtium
• Oregano
• Phlox
• Purple coneflower
• Queen Anne’s lace
• Sage
• Scabiosa
• Shasta daisy
• Stonecrop
• Verbena
• Yarrow
• Zinnia

Plants That Attract Bees:

• Allium
• Aster
• Basil
• Bee balm
• Bee plant
• Bergamot
• Blanket flower
• Borage
• Cosmos
• Flax
• Four o’clock
• Gaillardia
• Geranium
• Giant hyssop
• Globe thistle
• Goldenrod
• Helianthus
• Hyssop
• Joe-pye weed
• Lavender
• Lupine
• Marjoram
• Mint
• Mullein
• Paint brush
• Poppy
• Rosemary
• Sage
• Skullcap
• Sunflower
• Thyme
• Verbena
• Wallflower
• Wild rose
• Zinnia

Why You Should Attract Bees & Butterflies To Your Garden:

Attracting bees and butterflies to your garden has many advantages. First, they are obviously visually appealing creatures.

Second, bees are perfectly adapted to pollinate. This helps plants grow, breed and produce food.

Many ornamental and edible plants rely on these colorful creatures to transfer the pollen within their blooms.

Native plants are especially important to pollinators and other wildlife. Native plants provide butterflies with the nectar or foliage they need as adults and as caterpillars.