Love This New Top Feeder

[UtahBeekeeper]

I really love this injected plastic feeder from Dadant Plastic Top Feeder (https://www.dadant.com/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=761) Rather than waste an empty super for its enclosure, I put together 2 new deep hive bodies, and ripped them so as to end up with 2 new medium supers (6 5/8") and 2 very shallow (3") enclosures for the top feeders. The feeders sit right on top of the top hive body (not the frames) and is sandwiched in perfectly with the 3" leftover box. I primed the feeder by dripping some sugar water into the vent slits. The bees were all over it and the feeder system prevents the bees from perishing in the liquid. I hated the frame feeders because they were larger than one frame but smaller than two. The feeder acts like a cover in it self when the hive cover is removed to add sugar water. Only one hive is "light" so it is getting the juice. The other went into winter with 80 pounds of stores so I am not feeding it yet. I wouldn't want to buy a thousand of these feeders, but for my 2 hives they are the "bee's knees" and more!

[ February 07, 2007, 11:04 PM: Message edited by: UtahBeekeeper ]

[GaSteve]

I like those feeders too -- you can check and refill them without any gear. I just put a hive cover directly on top of the feeder. Regardless of what you put over it, make sure it's bee tight or it will drown a lot of bees.

[Jesus_the_only_way]

I agree, I have had no problems with mine.
Holds a lot too!!!

[flathead]

We use the plastic feeder and the styrofoam one also and like both.

https://www.dadant.com/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=25_47&products_id=616

The plastic has access on both ends while the styrofoam on just one end but holds three gallons.

With our hives tilted to the front slightly, the styrofoam works well as they can get every last drop. The plexaglass cover lets us better see the feeding bees also.

We are making quite a few wooden feeders and are building them with access on one end only.

I built a few of the miller type with the access in the middle but have abandoned that type. You have to pour into two separate compartments and then if you have tilt they can't reach the front supply all the way down.

[Bee2]

I love mine too! for all the reasons you listed.
I started my first hive last spring and I did a lot of reading. I remember one guy said "the first thing you should do is remove the top cover and throw your hivetop feeder as far as you can".
There were enough folks talking about the benefits of a hivetop feeder that I chose that method.
It's really nice as spring is approaching in that I can feed my bees without opening up the hive.
I do find a few ants floating in the syrup and a bee every now and then.

[mwjohnson]

I tied them,
I had some(quite a few really)bees drown inside of the guard.
But it's tough to remove the corpses,because you can't remove the guard once you've snapped it together.
Well,I did,but they got pretty messed up.

I really like seeing the bees feeding in the plexi guard on the styrofoam ones.

[UtahBeekeeper]

MW just refilled my 2 today with no casualties. I can see scurrying wings and feet beneath my plastic guards also . . . I wonder if your drownings were syrup formula related. The bees are really sucking that sugar water down!

The hives came through 30+ nights of 10 degree temps in January. Now we are getting daytime temps in the 50's here in the high desert, but more winter still ahead. The bees were haulin' in some small bundles of very white pollen today, but everything still looks pretty darn brown out there to me. JP