Division Board Feeder cover

[Russ]

I think that I read where someone had made a cover for a division board feeder with tubes to keep from drowning so many bees. Would like to have some info on how this was done as I have lost a lot of bees when using these feeders. Am thinking of starting a "Nuc" and using these feeders in it. Give me some advice. Dale

[BULLSEYE BILL]

That was me in an earlier post, here it is again. I still haven't had a chance to call yet.
Bill

When I was at the Kansas State Honey Producers meeting last month either Draper or Dadant had a division board feeder that had a lid that kept the feeder from bulging and also had two or three holes in the top with tubular ladders for the bees to crawl in and out of.
Don't bother to look in the catalogs, they are not listed. I have been meaning to call and ask if I could order just the lids but haven't gotten to that yet. I use the hive top feeders with the wire and like them just fine.
If you want to keep your syrup from molding, add Honey-B-Healthy. If you can keep your bees from sucking it up, it's supposed to inhibit molding.
Bill

[Michael Bush]

I bought some division board feeders from Brushy Mt. that are made of masonite and wood. They don't buldge, they have a lid for when you aren't using them and they have a smaller area made of hardware cloth for the bees to get into with the harware cloth acting as a ladder.

Also with the plastic ones, I cut a piece of #8 hardware cloth the length of twice the depth of the division board feeder plus the width and as wide as the frame is long bend it to fit inside. This works well. You always get a few drowned bees no matter what, but when I've used them without the hardware cloth ladder there were LOTS of drowned bees. Some people use a wooden float cut to roughly the size of the bottom of the feeder.