why do they do that

[Archie]

Out on my deck there is an  open bag of potting soil.  The exposed soil was covered with bees.  The potted plants had bees on the soil also.  What are they looking for and what are the getting out of the potting soil?

[Kris^]

In a similar vein, we had several dozen trays of perennial plugs sitting out on pallets earlier this summer.  I noticed that the bees just seemed to flock to the hostas in particular, poking through the teeny-tiny leaves, even though there was no way they would ever find nectar in them.  We thought it might be the soil the plants were were rooted in that attracted the bees.  It made for an interesting time when we went to transplant the plugs into their containers!  Nobody got stung, though.

-- Kris

[Agility Mom]

We had a similar type experience last summer although not involving plants and soil. My husband had gotten bark mulch in our pickup and there were those pieces that you can't easily get out remaining on the bed of the truck. Every time the truck was in the yard, the bees came in numbers to light on that remaining mulch. One thought I had for my situation was tht it was an easy way to get water or perhaps what they need for propolis. Can't think what they were looking for in your potting soil.

[lobstafari]

I have also noticed bees love seaweed, and also, buzz around my boat when Im fishing close to shore.  There are known beekeepers in the area, but still, why my boat?  And whats the attraction to the seaweed?  It is known to be high in micronutrients and geat for gardens, so maybe they're after minerals or salt or something who knows.

[Robo]

Jeremy,

I think your on to something.  I noticed when I use to provide a water source for my bees, it seemed to be much more attracting to them if I added some Clorox.  

Kept the algae down too