Bucket feeding is an effective way of providing sugar syrup directly above beehives, thus limiting heat loss in their hive and enabling individual bees to consume it quickly before returning back into its nest. It allows bees to quickly feed before quickly crawling back inside.
This feeder utilizes a one gallon pail with an integrated stainless steel feeder screen for vacuum feeding. Featuring long-term durability with easy cleanup made of food-grade plastic.
Contents
Feeding Newly Hived Packages
Once a package arrives, it should be fed immediately in order to provide both energy and encourage bees to begin building on foundation that you have provided in the hive. Furthermore, feeding gives an opportunity to verify if their queen has been accepted by her workers.
One effective method of feeding newly established packages is using baggie feeders – gallon zip lock bags partially filled with sugar syrup that have been cut with razor blades at their top to create two or three small holes allowing bees to access it when clustering in their box. Bees then siphon off this syrup while clustering around these baggies.
Pail feeders can also be a very effective method. These buckets have had their tint plug removed and a hole drilled in their lid; then filled with syrup before flipping over at the hive and flipping back over for use. Robbers will stay clear since these create a vacuum effect inside of them that ensures there are no drips!
Stimulation
There are various feeders you can use during spring to encourage bee colonies to produce honey and build stores. From large open containers with floating objects like popcorn peanuts or straw, which bees can access from all around, to feeders made specifically to feed multiple beehives at once without risking robbing, there are various solutions that may work. Unfortunately they can sometimes set off robbing when used too rapidly as many bees drown during their feeding frenzy.
Pail feeders are another type of open feeder which employ a vacuum principle when turned over, enabling bees to access syrup without drowning. While they can be somewhat costly, pail feeders are very effective and easy to refill; when filling them up close to full capacity will help minimize initial drippage.
Safety
Newly installed package colonies or established ones alike often face challenges storing honey to sustain them through cold Spring days or nectar deficiency in Winter, so supplemental feeding may help these hives overcome this obstacle and increase their chances of survival.
One method of providing additional feedings is using a pail feeder, which features a screened bucket to allow bees access directly to sugar syrup. However, this method requires thorough inspection and cleaning between colonies in order to avoid robbing incidents.
Another method for providing additional feedings is through jar feeders – these glass or plastic jars can be used in warm or cool weather to supplement feedings of bee colonies, provided they are cleaned out after every use and properly secured with screws to avoid being targeted by robbers. However, as they may attract predators like robbers, it should be placed well away from your hives, 100 feet at least. When placed nearer your colonies than this distance this type of open feeder could expose weaker colonies to predators as they compete for the syrup compared with stronger bee colonies for accessing their syrup supply against stronger colonies for competing for it!
Storage
There are various feeder types available to provide colonies with sugar syrup without opening their hive, with division board feeders being the most widely-used solution. They consist of plastic containers in the shape of brood frames inserted directly into the hive as replacement frames; these tend to induce robbing but require flotation material at the bottom in order to allow bees access to syrup.
Pail feeders can also provide bees with access to syrup without leaving their cluster, being any container with an opening in its lid and set upside-down over an inner cover. They should always be protected from elements by surrounding with empty deep supers and an outer cover for added protection and to avoid robbing. Easy for bees to use!
