We have beekeepers down below and we are getting too many bees around our fountains, any free advice??? I got your info from nextdoor.com.. We turned off the fountains where there was the problem. We had a nice frog near the fountain but he/she left now too...
Any good beekeeper should be providing water for their
own bees. Do you know these people at all? If you can
talk to them and explain the situation and ask them to
provide for their bees that should alleviate the situation.
Keeping your fountain turned off until they locate a different
source of water is a good idea, but that is assuming you have
a cooperative neighbor. All they have to do is to set up a
stock tank or trough somewhere closer to their bees than
your fountains and maintain water in it at all times. The bees
will soon reorient on a new source. Whatever you do,
don't believe anything you read on the internet about bees
being repelled by peppermint or any other smell. They use
the smell of chlorine to orient on pool water. It does not
deter them. Your neighbor can use our waterer as a sample,
https://www.ceder.net/bees/pond.php but there's no need
to get as elaborate as that. As long as the water is constantly
available and there are things floating in it to act as safe
harbors for the landing bees, that will suffice.