The hive top feeder resembles a medium super and sits atop the hive, usually being covered by hardware cloth and part of its cover frame.
Hive top feeders allow the bees to access syrup through a round opening in a cone, making refilling and monitoring simple and less invasive than frame or division board feeders.
Contents
Easy Filling
Feeding colonies sugar syrup is something most beekeepers do to promote bee colony growth in spring or fall, or to sustain them through dearth periods and build adequate stores for winter. There are various feeder options, each with their own advantages and disadvantages. We have discussed entry and frame feeders before; hive top feeders offer another method that may prove effective under specific circumstances.
Hive top feeders are shallow boxes designed to hold large volumes of liquid feed. They’re usually installed above an inner cover and directly over frames in a hive and come equipped with hardware cloth to deter bees from accessing and robbing it from below, plus a galvanized steel safety screen to protect bees from drowning. Filling and monitoring these feeders are straightforward without opening your hive, while their portability allows them to be placed where they will provide maximum benefit and accessibility for your colony’s needs.
No Drowning
Hive top feeders offer bees an easier and quicker way to access nectar from above (versus traditional inverted pale feeders that may drip and drown bees). This may explain why there are fewer dead bees when feeding with these types of feeders; gravity or frame feeders require taking action against their colonies before refilling; their lid and inner cover cannot easily be taken off without disturbing the colony.
Hive top feeders require you to add a division board in order for bees to access their food supply, and may leak when exposed to cold weather conditions. They’re still an effective choice due to their large capacity and ease of re-filling; furthermore they don’t require as deep hive boxes like entrance feeders do and are therefore better suited to Warre or top bar hives compared to entrance feeders which must also be checked frequently from within the hive box. They’re easily visible from both outside views making them simpler to monitor than entrance feeders when checking from within or checking them from within.
Prevents Robbing
Robber bees can be attracted to an open buffet like a magnet; even when only sparse food is provided and kept out of sight, these predators may come flocking for sustenance at your hive entrance feeder and begin raiding weak colonies nearby.
Beekeepers must avoid feeding at the entrance as this may quickly decimate a colony and leave its remaining bees in an incapacitating state that will be difficult to reverse. As an alternative, an internal feeder should be utilized.
Some internal top feeders resemble Langstroth frames in shape and fit tightly on top of a brood box, preventing external access to their syrup supply. Such feeders are useful during nectar dearths as they keep the entrance clear without allowing other scents out that would attract robber bees; refilling such feeders is fast and effortless compared to filling gravity or frame feeders; no disruption caused to bees inside their hives!
Easy Storage
Feeding colonies sugar syrup is something all beekeepers do to encourage rapid colony expansion during spring or fall seasons, sustain them during periods of dearth or build sufficient stores for winter. There are various approaches available for feeding colonies sugar syrup; each method offers different advantages and drawbacks.
Boardman feeders use mason jars to store feed at the entrance and are easy to refill and monitor from outside the hive, though they may require frequent flipping that exposes their contents to elements as well as potential robbers.
Baggie feeders, which consist of bee feed bags that you carefully cut open to feed their bees, are lightweight and easy to operate but often messy, and can quickly be dislodged by animals or high winds.
