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Wildlife

Pollinator Gardens Usually Fail on Water, Not Flowers

Bees drown easily and cannot land on open water. A saucer of pebbles is often the missing element in a well-planted pollinator bed.

Bee drinking from a pebble-filled saucer of water

Bees use water for cooling the colony and diluting stored honey, not only for drinking. They need a landing surface with the water surface just below it, which is why they cluster around damp moss, birdbath edges, and puddle margins rather than pond centres.

A shallow dish filled with pebbles or marbles and topped up daily in hot weather costs nothing and is the easiest addition to an existing planting scheme.

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