There are various strategies for feeding a beehive, each offering their own set of advantages and disadvantages.
Some people opt to use a baggie feeder, which essentially consists of a gallon ziplock bag filled with three quarts of syrup. This works great during warm months but may become inadequate under colder circumstances.
Others choose to place containers like Miller feeders, paint cans or plastic pails over their hive entrance holes in order to cut costs but often cause robbing.
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Vacuum Feeder
This type of feeder uses a vacuum pump to attract bees from all directions and keep them inside, with some drowning during this process. These buckets are very heavy, causing syrup to leak out once all bees have entered, taking an extended amount of time to fill or empty, which increases dehydration risks in some bees.
Beekeepers sometimes utilize large one or two gallon pails with small holes on their lids to provide their hives with food, such as sugar water. Once filled up to 100% capacity, these feeders must be inverted onto their respective hives before bees can access their fill through small openings in their lid.
Boardman feeders provide another alternative. Consisting of a feeding jar that sits outside the hive and a feeding tray that slides into its entrance, these devices enable bees to access syrup without having to open their hives each time they approach the feeder jar.
Pail Feeder
Pail feeders are commonly employed with newly hived packages to quickly provide bees with sugar syrup when their colonies run low on supplies, enabling them to quickly fill their need without traversing several frames in search of boardman feeders or raiding other hives.
Feeders like these are inexpensive, lightweight and simple to transport and clean – ideal for spring and fall use when temperatures remain cool – providing food to new colonies, early season splits, nucs or swarms.
This feeder features a stainless steel feeding screen embedded directly into its lid, giving bees easy access to their syrup supply by slowly inverting it. To use, simply place this feeder over an inner cover hole surrounded by empty hive bodies or medium supers with their respective telescoping tops – this helps prevent robbers while maintaining consistent temperatures in your hive and can hold 1 gallon of syrup!
Frame Feeder
Frame feeders are popular because they allow beekeepers to add sugar syrup without opening their hive.
These feeders are easy to use: simply slide the super above it over, refill, and clean. These make an excellent option for spring and fall feedings!
Frame feeders require more frequent refilling than other types, and may not work in cold weather conditions. A frame feeder’s inefficiency lies in having bees travel through all of its spaces to reach the food source compared to a boardman feeder’s convenience for bees.
Another downside of this method is its decreased capacity, leading to more drone or burr comb formation and additional drone or burr comb production. Furthermore, using this approach requires sliding a super over the feeder; this causes more disturbance than using an entrance feeder jar would.
Bottom Board Feeder
One of the most widely used bee hive bucket feeders is a simple plastic pail that holds two gallons of 2:1 syrup. This type of feeder can easily be placed over an entrance hole on an inner cover or inside an empty super and is simple to refill with more syrup when necessary. Furthermore, its covered design helps prevent robbery as quickly as it protects it against mold growth.
Frame feeders are another bee hive bucket feeder option used to feed new package colonies, as they’re convenient and can simply slide over the cluster, fill with sugar syrup, and be put back into position after feeding. While this method works well during warm climates, cold climates require alternative means for feeding.
Beekeepers sometimes employ division board feeders, similar to frame feeders but made of wood instead. This feeder may be cheaper but does not offer as much security – bees can become trapped under it and drown!
