Bee & Bird Fountain

Gardening is an important component of our retirement lifestyle. Our backyard garden is an important ecosystem that helps maintain the bee and bird elements that we so richly enjoy. We draw a tremendous amount of pleasure watching nature unfurl with the activities of the bees and birds as they go about in their daily activities in our garden. The watering fountain we constructed has been a major attraction for the bees & birds. The fountain is located on our backyard deck; we sit and enjoy our morning and afternoon tea while observing up close an array of guests enjoying our fountain. 

       The ring of rocks that we have on the fountain perimeter  give the bees a excellent perch to enjoy the water as it flows across the formations. The outside concrete base of the fountain allows the smaller birds like Chickadees, Wrens & Finches a perch for access to the water flowing over the top of the fountain globe. The interesting feature of this fountain is the fine film of water that flows over the globe is very quiet and unassuming; that may be why it is so attractive to the birds. The top the fountain is utilized by the birds to boldly bath and refresh themselves; it is quite comical watching their antics. The bumble bees require a water source and we believe the increased attraction of the bumbles to our garden is a result of this fountain. The wet rocks give the bees an excellent base from which to drink. The other observation we made last summer was the wasps (yellow jackets) that liked to chase us into the house at meal time were non factor because of the fountain. The wasps would actually sit on the globe part of the fountain and not the rocks, and let the water flow past them while they drink. Wasps as much as we don't like them, serve a purpose in nature, killing flies, spiders and other garden pests that we constantly battle. We are going to reassess this theory again this summer to see if it has merit.

Fountain Construction

Plastic bowl makes a perfect center dome mold 

Drill a 1/2 " hole in the bowl

Put a 3/8" rubber hose through the hole

Hose length is to the top of the bowl

The fountain pump cavity is made by cutting a 3"x 4"x 2 1/2" Styrofoam block. Drill a 1/2" hole in the block and insert the hose in the hole flush with the top of the bowl. The foam block is  removed once the concrete is set. 

Remove the bowl mold when concrete is set and 

trim the hose flush with the top of the dome.

The main concrete fountain bowl is made by using 2 large bowls as molds. The concrete is poured 3" thick between the two bowls. A heavy weight keeps the top mold in place while the concrete sets. 

The concrete fountain base is made 

using the base of an old plastic urn as a mold.

"see below"

The fountain base is glued to the bowl with E P 9000 glue.

The pump is attached to the hose at the bottom of the dome top. Spacers 1/2 " wide as set in place between the bowl & dome so the rocks do not slide into the pump cavity.  1 1/2 " rock is added around the base of the dome. Water level is to the bowl lip and we are in business!