Feeders are essential tools for feeding bees their sugar syrup. There are various approaches available, such as entrance feeders, hive top feeders, and division board feeders – each has their own way of providing bees with food.
This week Jim and Jeff (substituting for Kim) discuss the various feeder options, their benefits and disadvantages as well as how to use a hive top bucket feeder.
Contents
Easy to Clean
This feeder screen is embedded directly into the pail lid for ease of cleaning and to eliminate having to take down another container like a bottle or jar with screens before feeding your bees. Furthermore, using this feeder reduces the need for warming your syrup as bees do not tolerate cold syrup well.
One gallon feeders can be installed inside or over an entrance hole in an inner cover hive. Beekeepers usually encase this feeder with a deep super to protect it from weather and potential thieves dislodging it from its place in the hive.
Frame feeders can be an excellent solution in warm climates for newly established package colonies, though in order to maximize effectiveness and minimize heat loss within the hive they must be located close to their cluster in order to be effective and reduce heat loss within. However, in northern climates where winter weather may occur this may become problematic as some bees could perish if too far from their cluster is placed near it; additionally frame feeders require a solid ladder system so bees can climb into it safely when entering their feed box.
Drip Free
Hive top bucket feeders provide an effective and straightforward means to feed colonies that may not be nearby, or for which time is of the essence. Their hardware cloth surface enables many bees to consume syrup simultaneously – saving both you and them time in doing so!
Pail feeders are another efficient and cost-effective method of feeding bees, often costing less than $8 for two gallon size. Simply invert it over an inner cover hole so bees can access it easily; they should then remain there throughout their use if they need accessing in cold weather! However, these feeders may become subject to weather, animals, robbers, theft and may even freeze up if bees cannot get to them quickly enough.
Easy to Operate
Beekeepers frequently utilize the simple hive top bucket feeder as an efficient means of providing their bees with easy access to syrup without opening their hives. Frame feeders or other types of hive-mounted feeders require more frequent refilling while being less effective during periods when bees need fast consumption of syrup.
Bucket feeders (also called pail or contact feeders) provide another great method for feeding your bees using gravity (and vacuum pressure) to deliver syrup. Made of plastic, they come in capacities ranging from one gallon up to over 10 gallons; fill the feeder up and invert it on the hive for use!
Hardware cloth on the surface of a feeder enables bees to access syrup easily while protecting them from drowning. You can top your feeder off with either an empty hive body lid, or place the inner cover directly over it for maximum heat preservation during cold climate conditions.
Easy to Refill
Feeding syrup directly over the cluster allows you to feed more bees faster. Furthermore, this practice prevents syrup from dripping off of the feeder side where it could collect mold or stickiness, as well as attract robbers.
Alternative feeding devices, like entrance feeders (which place a tray inside the hive entrance) and division board feeders require you to open your hive in order to refill them; these may cause robbing; hence entrance reducers should be used to help defend against invaders.
Hive top bucket feeders feature an ingenious stainless steel feeder screen built into the lid of a plastic pail, so they’re easily fillable with sugar syrup. Simply invert over any hole in the inner cover of your hive for access by your bees – any heat lost from refilling should be minimal, and these pail feeders come in 1 gallon and 2 gallon sizes to suit most beehives.
