View Full Version : Hive top feeders
sfisher
11-23-2009, 12:35 AM
Is anybody using Brushy mnts hive top feeder? The kind with the floats. I am thinking about getting this type of feeder instead of the pail type. I figure I could use it for syrup or dry sugar.
longrangedog
11-23-2009, 05:00 AM
I've had them for a couple of years and am generally pleased. As Brushy claims you don't kill many bees with them. Before using them you have to remove some plastic from the ends of the floats so that they don't hang up on the ends of the feeder. I used a bench grinder.
longrangedog
11-23-2009, 05:05 AM
My previous post is about their internal feeder which replaces a deep frame. I'm not familiar with a hive top with floats. Hope thats the feeder you're asking about.
Michael Bush
11-23-2009, 05:26 AM
I have several. They work fine, except that with the screened in ones (as opposed to the float ones) I can fill after dark if I need to without exposing bees.
mythomane
11-23-2009, 06:33 AM
Just staple a screen over the float ones and they work great. Just use syrup -- if it crystallizes the bees still use it.
SwedeBee1970
11-23-2009, 06:40 AM
I'm using dry sugar instead of the syrup and allow access from inside and outside the feeder. Water comes from the station I built to use for the bees drinking needs and acts as a weight to hold the lids down. Lately I've seen the bees drinking from it since their flight path is minimal from the cold.
ccar2000
11-23-2009, 11:21 AM
I have been using the top feeders from Mann Lake with the screens. http://www.mannlakeltd.com/ProductDetail.asp?idproduct=486&idCategory= I do not feed dry sugar but maybe it is just a matter of removing the screen insert (three screws). I have not had a big problem with drowned bees. Kind of morbid but the bees will use the corpses as floats when collecting the syrup.
Michael Bush
11-23-2009, 05:53 PM
>Just staple a screen over the float ones and they work great.
Yes, that's what I did with most of them.
sfisher
11-23-2009, 08:27 PM
Whats the screen for?
SwedeBee1970
11-24-2009, 07:26 AM
Something to climb on, or a bridge if you will.
JOHNYOGA2
11-25-2009, 08:57 AM
I put a screen over mine so that when I take off the top cover to refill the feeder I don't get a face full of bees! Can refill the feeder without having to "suit up" although the bees don't generally seem very interested in my actions except in late Fall.
This picture is of a different feeder but I still use a screen over the feeder to keep other insects out of the syrup. It also provides ventilation with the notches in the rim. I have a nuc feeder where the screen is stapled over the top of the feeder.
http://i173.photobucket.com/albums/w45/Beegood_01/feeders002.jpg