Here is one of my favorite short videos I shot of a few of my honeybees seeking moisture.
Bees will find the closest available drinking water to collect for use in their hive. This can be a small pond, a creek, or even a bit of damp mud like you can see in this video.
The honeybee uses water for a few different reasons including for de-crystallizing honey, for drinking, and my favorite--to create a cooling system for their hive.
In the middle of the summer heat, they use water for evaporative cooling of their hive. They spread a thin layer of water across the sealed brood and then workers fan their wings to create air currents which evaporate the water and cool the hive.
▶️ DTube
▶️ IPFS