Top feeder feedback wanted.

[rookie2531]

I am interested in your thoughts before making more. The idea is that my daughter can help feed with no bees flying and also feed more quickly than last years, jars was a little hassle and just pouring it seems like it will be faster. This will fit into a 5 frame medium nuc.

[rookie2531]

I changed it to have a 45 deg. angle.

[little john]

My 2p on this is that this type of feeder is good for weak nucs, but not so good when the nuc gains strength.

This is the first prototype I made, some time back:



It quickly became clear that the feed container couldn't be tipped up in order for it to drain downwards towards the feeding 'slot'. So - the next one had a vertical feed channel which solved that problem:



Here's an underneath shot:




My reason for making these was to create a low-profile no-drown feeder to fit within the width of a single pallet plank on edge, so that I could make the simplest of ekes to fit over several 6-frame (2x3) nucs I was using at the time:




But - during testing I discovered that this feeder design has a flaw when the colony develops some strength, in that the feed 'slot' can become tightly packed with wall-to-wall bees which refuse to back-up when trying to re-fill the container. So - it's either add a splash of syrup and wait, and wait ... ; just pour it in and risk drowning a few bees (which DID happen a couple of times); or find some method of dispersing the bees - using (say) mist or smoke.

The time taken to fabricate these feeders in serious numbers is much longer of course than the few seconds it takes to make an inverted jar feeder, which I've stayed with for the majority of my hives - but I've kept a few of these for use with small or weak nucs, for which they work fine.

LJ

[rookie2531]

John, I made 6 small ones just yesterday to fit in a half gallon square bottle. They look similar to yours. My tunnels are 3/4" tall, so I don't think they will get too crowded, but they are going to be for nucs right after I take them out of mating boxes, so they will be weak. I also cut slots, in the containers, just big enough for the tunnels. 2 reasons, one to help keep the ants out, two, for evaporation. When you used yours, did you get a lot of ants? In one of your pics, it looks like it fits on a mating nuc cover, is that what it is?

[little john]

Good morning. (we're in very different time-zones ...  )
It sounds like these will be fine for your application - but there's only one sure way to find out if they fit in with 'bee-logic' !

Ants ? Sure, they're a pain in the backside when using any kind of open feeder. Luckily, our British ants are nowhere near as problematic as those you have in some parts of the States, and a sprinkling of cinnamon powder (see 2nd picture, previous post) is all that's usually required to persuade them to look elsewhere. If I lived in the States, then I'd be looking at making hive supports with legs standing inside water or oil jugs, or maybe with disks fixed to their legs (like anti-rat disks fitted to ship's mooring lines), with grease smeared onto their undersides. Something like that ...

I can't honestly see any point in covering the feed container, as the ants will simply climb up the feeder woodwork and gain access via that route ...



'Yes' to the mating nuc cover - that was just a mock-up for a photograph. Here's a shot of one being used last week when I recovered a queenless pauper swarm (in February !) which was housed for a week on 3 drawn frames inside one half of a 6-frame nuc, until I could rig-up a means of combining them:




With fondant in a small jar, and 50/50 honey + syrup mix in the feeder for moisture, the box was sealed (and strapped) as it was being kept in the house for warmth. This style of feeder proved ideal, as it supplied ventilation as well as the syrup mix which was initially sucked up like a sponge so they must have been quite dehydrated. The swarm has now been relocated on top of a full-sized hive, for combining.

'best
LJ

[rookie2531]

That is awesome, I might have to put mine in open containers too, as this year I am working on mating nucs. And the containers I am/was planning on using are too wide for mating nucs.