What are bee cups and why are they so important? Much like us, bees and butterflies need a dependable source of water to survive. Bee cups hold a teaspoon of water, serving as thirst-quenching mini watering stations for pollinators. Their gorgeous flowerlike appearance might even entice a hummingbird to stop by for a quick sip!
Did you know that bees cannot see the color red? That’s what I learned when I visited the Bee Cups website to learn more about these beautiful handmade garden accessories. According to the website, “Flowers use ultraviolet colors and bullseye patterns to attract pollinators. The Bee Cups™ studio invented UV-reactive Bee Vision glazes that make our cups look more like flowers to bees. Bee Vision glazes glow pink to pollinators but are clear to humans unless we use a blacklight.”
I’ve seen other bee cups imitators on the marketplace but I would never use them because many of those bee cups are manufactured from cheap plastic that isn’t visually appealing and could even leech harmful chemicals into the soil. Also, the color of these beautiful porcelain bee cups, unlike plastic bee cups, is fade-proof, ensuring that the vibrant UV-reactive Bee Vison glaze attracts pollinators for a long time.
The holidays are coming and these bee cups are ideal if you are seeking a unique gift to give to your favorite gardener or nature lover. A good starter pack for new purchasers is the bee-cup variety five pack but there are also other options to choose from.
To learn more about bee cups, this video includes an interview with the designer, in which she explains how she designed the bee cups to ensure that bees maintain a firm grip when sipping water from them.
Pollinators give back so much to us so why not gift them with a cool beverage whenever they visit
