Fruit question.... Watermelon mainly.

[Nugget Shooter]

OK so we feed our chickens watermelon on a regular basis in the summer to help them hydrate and they love it, well I found out the bees do as well  This leads to a question, is melon and other fruits something good, bad, or ho hum for the bees? We get them real cheap here in summer because they are grown locally and if it would be a better thing than sugar water now and then during dearth I would use it. I have looked it up and posted at another forum, but no opinions. Just curious.... 

[Perry]

If it moist they would like it I guess.
I know that watermelon is one of the things I like best on a hot day, it cools me down faster than any drink.

[Mikey N.C.]

Nug,
I know here in the south it attracts yellow jackets.

[Mikey N.C.]

Wanted to also mention I've seen alot of baldface hornets this year.

[riverbee]

nugget,
am unsure...........my guess is the moisture and possibly the sweet in the watermelon like hummingbird feeders?  honeybees take advantage of what they find, especially in a dearth.  i guess what i would do is not count on this for feed in a dearth, and be ready to feed sugar water.  we had a farmer plant watermelons in one of our fields, different varieties for several years. bears would wander through and hit his melons and i would see some honey bees on them, but mostly wasps, yellow jackets and hornets. (he finally gave it up.......... ) with that said, we had more blooming plants during those times for my bees to visit.  a very good question nugget! 

[Nugget Shooter]

They are really tearing the melon up today, one melon halved, we keep the center and bees are all over it, is a little warm and they are hitting the water hard as well. We keep about a half dozen water sources close and it amazes me how much water they go through a day right now.

[Wandering Man]

The good news is it can only get 20 degrees hotter than it was when you took the picture!

[Bakersdozen]

I am with riverbee on this.  The moisture and high sugar content of the melon when there is nothing else, is probably the attraction.  Do you still have supers on?  There may also be some minerals that they are receiving as well.  In my own backyard, I have some asters that I started from seed last year.  I put them in 6 inch pots last year and over wintered them in the same pots.  They are still sitting in the same pots and same potting soil.  I have them on a table in the sun so they require daily watering.  My bees crowd around the drain holes of those pots.  I have birdbaths which they frequent and there is a city lake next door, but they are drinking from the drainage holes for a reason.  I think it's the minerals.  I saw this last year with something else I had potted up.
Just a thought.

[Nugget Shooter]

I still have supers on our 3 largest hives currently and we did get two nice medium frames of honey. My thought is with the early dearth this season to leave most of what they have in the honey supers for food. Is this good practice or no? Nice to get a couple for ourselves and since most of the others were not yet 3/4 capped perhaps our fall flow will fill them up. Once again not 100% sure what to do and please chime in and let me know if my plan is OK for the bees.... And me 

Our first honey...

[yukonjeff]

The fruit thing always had me wondering. We have a berries that sit on the tundra all year long( lots of them) and some are still there till spring. they are basically little bags of slightly fermented sugar juice. Wondered if they use it in any way.

Nice frames of honey !

[Jen]

I'm thinking Watermellon Honey  Yum

[riverbee]

"I still have supers on our 3 largest hives currently and we did get two nice medium frames of honey. My thought is with the early dearth this season to leave most of what they have in the honey supers for food. Is this good practice or no? Nice to get a couple for ourselves and since most of the others were not yet 3/4 capped perhaps our fall flow will fill them up. Once again not 100% sure what to do and please chime in and let me know if my plan is OK for the bees.... And me"

nugget, it is a reward and pretty cool to take a little bit of honey.  to your question, i would leave as much as possible for them during your dearth; take a couple frames for yourself.  my point of view........it is good practice to leave honey supers on for the bees for them to consume during a dearth (and they will); otherwise you will be feeding sugar syrup or may have to anyway at some point.

[yes2matt]

Looks like you need a bigger thermometer. Sheesh.

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[rober]

more water evaporates than gets consumed especially with the temps that you're seeing. it's barely been in the 90's here & I have to refill my birdbaths every day. I see bees on fallen peaches & apples all the time. they must get something from fruit or they wouldn't bother. ain't nuthin' better than a ripe peach.