How to feed a newly installed nuc?

[stavros]

Hello everybody,
I am a new beekeeper, expecting to get my very first two nucs this week (hopefully), and I have a question to ask you about feeding: many people recommend to feed a nuc with a boardman feeder placed at the entrace of the hive. On the other hand, my bee provider recommends that I place a communal feeder a bit away from the hive, with the reasoning that feeders attract bugs, which are better to keep away from the hive. He insists that the bees will find the syrup anyway. Do you have any thoughts on that?
Thanks a lot,
Stavros

[Joseph Clemens]

Everybody has their own favorite way to feed, if they feed at all. Some feed be giving combs of honey/nectar. Others feed in the open away from the hives, called open feeding. I prefer to feed with combs of honey, but recently I've had to supplement with some cane sugar syrup 1:1 (1 part cane sugar to 1 part water, by weight). But even 1:2 can work well for stimulative Spring feeding. When I do this, I like to use quart size metal paint cans with some holes punched in the lid. I place them upside down over the frames, then put an empty super to enclose it.

[tecumseh]

I would suggest a couple of thing here to ya' stavros....

boardmen feeder... set at the entrance these will quite likely create a robbing problem.. the more bees you have within flying distance the greater the problem. if you only option is a boardmen feeder then place these on top of the cluster and cover with an empty shell (bee box). if you don't desire to feed quite so often a friction pail (a clean paint can) with small holes punched into the lid will accomplish the same thing as your typical one quart boardman feeder (place a couple of thin sticks under a friction pail to raise it up above the top bars so the girls can get to the feed).

communal feeding... also called pot feeding.... a lot of the big commercial guys do this using a 55 gallon drum for the pot... the downside of pot feeding is the hives that need the feed the most, get the least and you are quite likely to be feeding someone else's bees.

[Michael Bush]

>many people recommend to feed a nuc with a boardman feeder placed at the entrace of the hive.

Actually, I don't think I've every heard anyone recommend a boardman feeder except the beginner's kits. Robbing seems to follow.

> On the other hand, my bee provider recommends that I place a communal feeder a bit away from the hive, with the reasoning that feeders attract bugs, which are better to keep away from the hive. He insists that the bees will find the syrup anyway. Do you have any thoughts on that?

Open feeding sometimes works well and sometimes it doesn't. Sometimes you end up feeding the bee tree in the woods, your neighbor's hives, the yellow jackets, the wasps, the bumble bees, the ants AND your bees. Helping the yellow jackets can really backfire later when they are looking for meat and start killing your bees.

[lloyd@rossrounds.com]

Joe Clemens has it right. By far the best is top feeding. A pint jar works well for nucs. Next best is frame feeding.

[stavros]

Thanks a lot for your suggestions--they are very helpful. I'll use your recommendation and place the boardman feeder on top of the cluster, inside an empty deep, since I have unused empty deeps anyway. One question though: how can I prevent the bees from building burr comb on the empty deep? I thought this might violate bee-space?
Stavros Garoufalidis

[lloyd@rossrounds.com]

Thanks a lot for your suggestions--they are very helpful. I'll use your recommendation and place the boardman feeder on top of the cluster, inside an empty deep, since I have unused empty deeps anyway. One question though: how can I prevent the bees from building burr comb on the empty deep? I thought this might violate bee-space?
Stavros Garoufalidis
An excellent point and question! Of course, you are violating bee space and the 'possiblity' exists that bees will build burr comb in the extra box.

However, you are on your way to becoming a beekeeper, so you will be checking the box frequently and refilling the feeder when it is empty. At the first sign of burr comb inside the box you will stop feeding, and add super(s), with foundation if necessary!

[Zane]

Hi Folks,
I am also new and have ordered my nuc. I bought a frame feeder(used in place of a frame) how are those? Also I heard corn sugar works good for feed also. I have some from my beer brewing dayz.

[riverrat]

I would us a top feeder. I use a 3 quart pickle jar flipped upside down on the top bars with a empty deep