Beemaster's International Beekeeping Forum

BEEKEEPING LEARNING CENTER => EQUIPMENT USAGE, EXPERIMENTATION, HIVE PLANS, CONSTRUCTION TIPS AND TOOLS => Topic started by: Dave360 on September 07, 2011, 11:15:10 pm

Title: Stryofoam cups for feeding
Post by: Dave360 on September 07, 2011, 11:15:10 pm
A club member told me about putting Styrofoam cups in an empty super and filling with 1:1 sugar water
I was skeptical but hears the video

styro cups.mpg (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qtq3bc9Yzj0#ws)


Dave
Title: Re: Stryofoam cups for feeding
Post by: Scadsobees on September 08, 2011, 12:08:18 am
Fill the whole thing up with cups and you have an impromptu top feeder  :-D
Title: Re: Stryofoam cups for feeding
Post by: BlueBee on September 08, 2011, 02:27:49 am
I’m not so sure I would want to fill the WHOLE thing up with Styrofoam cups :-D
(http://i1082.photobucket.com/albums/j365/MichiganBee/EatingFoam.jpg)
Title: Re: Stryofoam cups for feeding
Post by: windfall on September 08, 2011, 08:51:12 am
Is that one of your "shells"? Are you allowing the bees access to the space between hive and shell body? Why?
Title: Re: Stryofoam cups for feeding
Post by: Haddon on September 08, 2011, 11:13:01 am
I have to say one of the coolest things I have seen.
I can tell you mine will have cups on them in about a week lol.
Tell your club member thanks wonder how many cups you can get in a hive body.
I need some new fall fast feeders was thinking I was going to have to eat a lot of sherbet for the plastic jugs but now I just have to take home a lot of coffee cups. 
Title: Re: Stryofoam cups for feeding
Post by: BlueBee on September 08, 2011, 01:20:21 pm
Windfall, yes the photo is one of my shells over a full sized hive.  No I’m not intentionally letting bees get between the wood hive and the shell.  What happened here was my wood top cover warped on me (made out of luaun) and generated a gap from which the bees could exit the wood hive and get into the foam shell.  From there, they proceeded to chew! 

In general I haven’t noticed a desire for bees to chew foam in my numerous experiments; unless they feel trapped.  I have seen them chew at the foam in the bottom of a feeder once the feed is consumed.