My glorious Frame Feeders

[wayacoyote]

I had great results last winter when feeding back straight honey in frame feeders to fill some hives out for wintering. Everything going great and I was totally infactuated with them.

Yesterday, I hived 3 packages using these feeders with diluted honey 1:1. The honeymoon is over! At least a quarter pound of dead bees floating in the feeders.

I think it was SilverFox who said he would use entrance feeders before he would use these. I can't say I blame him at all.
Waya

[newbee 101]

Actually, it was me. ;)

[George Fergusson]

People seem to swear by `em or swear at `em. I've never used them. I'd hesitate without providing something for the bees to crawl on besides the side walls.

[wayacoyote]

That is true, it was you. Thanks for keeping me on my toes yet again, newbee
Waya

[TwT]

I have never used one because all the bad stories I have heard, people say not to use a entrance feeder but I still do as long as I have a entrance reducer installed, never had any problems with robbing, but I really like the top feeders, never had any trouble at all with them except for a few times with ants.

[Jim Fischer]

Frame feeders may have a purpose in some application
or another, but for the life of me, I cannot see
how they are useful in beekeeping.

They may be the worst idea anyone had since
Abe Lincoln said "Let's go see a play!".

</font> One must open the hive just to check them.</font> Filling them creates a risk of soaking bees</font> Despite several creative designs intended to
prevent bee drowning, bees still drown.</font> They only hold a gallon. Any but the weakest
hives can suck down a gallon of syrup in two days
with ease.</font> The force you to remove (and store!) a brood
comb frame. Where/how should one store this
frame? No one really knows...</font> Let the feeder go empty for even a few days,
and the bees will build comb in it, because it
is in the brood chamber, where they want to
build as much comb as they can</font>
I could rant on and on, but you get my drift.
Scrap 'em, and get some hive-top feeders.

[wade]

I use the frame feeder from Glorybee. It has a plastic screen "ladder" that goes all the way to the bottom of the well. With a fairly strong hive there is a 0% drown rate, and I love 'em. For a weak hive they like to float belly up in there. I don't know why. I've got a couple of ideas but definitely conjecture. Maybe there is fighting/robbing at the well? Maybe the stronger hive fishes out and hauls off the drowned bees? Maybe in a weak hive there aren't many foragers so the only bees that go for the syrup are the stumbling clutsy nurse bees? I would think that's a fireld bee's job. 10 bees is the most I've found in one well which isn't many, but it sure looks like a lot in that little 1 1/2" X 3/4" well opening. I think even with a bunch of drowned bees the others can still get the syrup so for now I'm biting a bullet, although with a bunch of floaters I've yet to chase any slurpers out of the syrup, its like they're not intterested in it.

[tecumseh]

well I have had moderate success with frame feeder placed into moderate to very stong hives. it does provide a mechanism for dumping great quantities of feed into a hive very quickly. when place at the very top of the hive with new foundation, not only is the foundation quickly pulled but the time interval of interrupting the hives activity is limited.

a tradional boardman feeder (typically shoved into the hive landing board/entrance) is an invitation to robbing if the hive is the least bit weak. a boardman feeder incorporated with a hive cover seems to limit robbing as far as I can tell.

[WG Bee Farm]

I use them in every hive body. Comb only seems to appear; in the frame feeder, when I have not added supers or forget to give them enough room to expand in the brood nest.
All hives are not created equal, some bees might drown in one hive and not another. As a precaution I always add a small amount of straw into the feeders to act as ladders for the bees to use.
BEEKEEPING-what works for one does not always work for another, but it is always good to hear of other ways.

[swarm_trapper]

we just got a bunch of frame feeder what an improvment over the bucket feeders that we had. Yes lots of bees drowned if there is nothing in the feeder, but we take ceder shingles and cut them to about 1" wide and put them in. We usualy have about 20 bees dead. They fill fast and easy and the bees take the feed fast. Butlike always what works for us might not work for you. regards Nick