You probably already knew that the honey bees collect not just nectar but water as well. 

But did you know that the quality of the bees’ primary water source directly affects the quality and taste of their honey? 

The honeybees that collect clean water and unpolluted natural nectar make the best tasting honey.  Conversely, when the bees have an unclean main water source like a stagnant swampy pond, their honey acquires a ‘funky’ taste even with the same good sources of nectar. 

The bees also need minerals that may be lacking in their floral diet such as calcium, sodium, magnesium and potassium.

I also make sure that my bees have a clean convenient source of the minerals they need instead of foraging for them elsewhere in some distant dirty water or manure piles which is sure to affect the quality and taste of their honey.

In the video, in the dish under the pine needles there’s water with beneficial minerals that the bees are attracted to.
One gallon of this water contains a couple of teaspoons of natural sea salt with the iodine removed, as iodine is harmful to the bees.