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OPINIONS WANTED! Best Types Of Feeders???

3K views 13 replies 13 participants last post by  wade 
#1 ·
First of all, I am in SE New Hampshire (in case it makes a difference).

Last year when I installed my first and only package of bees, I fed with a Boardman Entrance Feeder. I looked at the Hivetop Feeders and the Frame Feeders but was steared away from them by the person I got my equipment from as well as my Bee School I attended. So, a Boardman it was. We got no honey at all the first year.

This year, my hive wintered well and I’ve stuck the Boardman feeder back in. However, we have 3 new hives and the packages for those hives coming on the 15th of April. We purchased 3 more Boardman feeders, but I think I want to experiment.

I figure I’ll do this:

My original Hive: Boardman Feeder.

My 3 New Hives:

1) A Hive Top Feeder
2) A Frame Feeder (with floats to drastically reduce drowning)
3) A Boardman Feeder.

This way, I’ll have 3 new hives and I can watch each to see which takes syrup faster and which hive draws out the frames faster and gives me honey first and the most. Then, I can go from there.

Does anyone have any opinions on the various feeders? They say the Frame Feeder (or Division Board Feeder I GUESS it’s also called) used to have a lot of drowning bees, but this new one from BETTERBEE has floatation devices that the bees stand on. They can get the syrup, but they can’t fall in.

Some say put the Frame feed as the last fram on either side, others say put it right next to the brood or 2nd/3rd frame from center. What is best here?

Plus, I’m under the impression that as an “INTERNAL” Feeder, they will be taking syrup and working day and night even on the cold nights and the bad days WITHOUT ROBBING!

Your opinions?
 
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#2 ·
I've used a hive top feeder from beeworks.com.

http://beeworks.com/usacatalog/items/item130.htm

It looks for all the world like an anglefood cake
baking tin, but it's plastic. You can't make out the center spigot in the online picture. Can be refilled without removing. Bees come up thru the hole in the center so it only needs a 1 1/2" hole in the inner cover. Never found 1 drowned bee(...yet)

Does everything a feeder should do without taking up the space of a frame. No problems, no complaints. Simple. Love it.

[ April 01, 2006, 04:50 PM: Message edited by: brent.roberts ]
 
#3 ·
I do not like the Boardman Feeder. It can cause robbing, it doesn't hold much syrup and the bees will not use it if is cold outside. (I am assuming that you are putting the feeder at the entrance of the hive.)

What about pollen patties? I use the "Bee-Pro" patties from Mann Lake, Ltd. I put them on in the last week in January and leave them on until the middle of March when the pollen starts coming in. Of course, I am way down south in Louisiana.

My Russian bees do not start raising brood as fast in the spring as the Italian bees. If I don’t feed the Russian bees a pollen patty, the bees will just store the syrup and not increase brood production. Russian bees are not for everyone. They do require a shift in thinking. However, the Russian bees do reduce dead outs, especially the blue line of Russian bees. I am obtaining queens from pure Russian mothers. I am getting fewer deadouts than from Russian hybrids.
 
#4 ·
I've used hive top and division board (frame) feeders. Both work pretty well but I'd go with the hive top feeder because it holds so much more and you can refill it without opening the hive. A strong hive can suck down 3 quarts/day pretty easily and unless you have a hose to the hive it takes a lot of refilling with a lesser capacity feeder. The division board feeders need a float and they should be on the outside of the hive. The bees have to suck up the syrup to relocate it and having the feeder intruding on the brood nest constricts nest expansion at a time you want to encourage that. Having to walk the syrup over another 6" isn't that big of deal in my opinion. I have a Boardman but haven't ever used it because of the capacity limitation and the literature cautions about robbing. Sounds like a good experiment you are trying. I love a scientist.

[ April 01, 2006, 05:55 PM: Message edited by: Borgnik ]
 
#7 ·
Another feeder you may want to consider is a 1 gallon chicken waterer. If you add an extra deep box you can put the waterer right on top of the frames and the bees can still feed in cooler weather. They don't seem to want to go up into a hive top when its cold. Just be sure to put a piece of 1/2" rope in the tray to prevent drowning. When the weather warms the hive top is the best and easiest to use in my opinion.
 
#9 ·
I like the "New Style" Division Board Feeder item DF2 from Betterbee. It has floats in the center that are moved into the feeding chambers, and very few bees drown. Contrary to other division board feeders where hundreds of bees drown. I set a deep super on top of my inner cover, place one or two of these feeders in that deep super and place the cover over that. The bees come up through the inner cover hole to the "cafeteria". Seems to work good. Robbing is not a problem, they would have to get through the hive to accomplish that.
 
#10 ·
For me, simple is best. I put on a shallow super and place a 1-gallon freezer bag with about a half a gallon of syrup in it. Next, I cut three 2" slits in the bag with a razor blade. On goes the outer cover and the bees go to work. I remove the bag when they've emptied it. Cheap and simple and no bees drown.
 
#12 ·
I have heard that the Quail feeders work well over the inner cover with an empty deep and cover. I am using 1 quart zip lock (3/4 filled) baggies with several cuts across the top so the bees can empty it . My bees arent taking a lot of it thought most seem to be in good shape with stores...Rick Alexander
 
#13 ·
I have heard that the Quail feeders work well over the inner cover with an empty deep and cover. I am using 1 quart zip lock (3/4 filled) baggies with several cuts across the top so the bees can empty it . My bees arent taking a lot of it thought most seem to be in good shape with stores...Rick Alexander
 
#14 ·
I'll chime in for the frame feeder I love them, although my only other experience is with a poultry feeder with gravel in the tray. My frame feeders from Glorybee have screen ladders going all the way to the bottom. Its a hassle to remove the hive cover to refill it but its a good chance to check on the bees anyway while its off. Its a breeze to refill, I take a 5 gallon bucket of syrup out there and pour it into a juice pitcher then the feeder, while its in the hive. During cold weather you could use two so it'll last longer. I suppose you could fill a box with those and set it on top of the inner cover for the colder weather if they need that much.
 
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