HYGIENIC WATER SUPPLY FOR THE BEES

Sa？etak The bees must have continuous and adequate supply of good quality water for normal development and survival. In their work, the beekeepers use various water supply containers that usually have many disadvantages ( inadequate loading capacity, inconstant supply of water, unsatisfactory sanitary conditions). In order to study permanency, consumption and hygiene of water supply, a new model of hygienic water supply container has been constructed and applied in the experiment on the island of Unije. The trial took place from 26 July to 29 September 2006 and it included six isolated apiaries of equal strength of colonies. During that period, 83 beehives consumed 374,10 litters of water, the average water consumption per beehive being 5,19 ± 2,88 liters. The average daily water consumption per beehive was 0,12 ± 0,07 liters