1 Gal Vs. 2 Gal. Frame Feeders

[Riverdog]

Any one out there have a preference on one or the other? It seems the 2 Gal would require less attention.

Thanks
Riverdog

[JohnK and Sheri]

I wasn't even aware there were 2 gal frame feeders. With 2 gal, while you might have to come back less often, I would think the disadvantage would be it displaces 2 frames instead of 1.
All our deeps have a permanent 1 gal division feeder. This way we can feed at any time and don't need to be carrying boxes around to put the feeders/frames in as they are replaced.
When we needed to do mass feeding for overwintering we used large hive top feeders that held (I think )4 gallons, maybe 3.
Sheri

[buzz100]

hivetop feeders--easy to manage and no direct exposure of bee to the elements.

[jean-marc]

I like to have a frame feeder in every brood chamber. I leave them in year round. I don't care to replace them with a frame. It's such a pain. We are in poor honey producing area (having said those words we're sure to have a bumper crop this year), so I feed often. I like to keep the hives populous. We are a pollinating business and we also sell hives, nucs. It's all for sale for the right price. That being said I like being able to feed all hives at any given time. I also like to turn hives into cell builders at any given location. I'll take capped brood out and the queen reduce to 1 box and voila cell builder. Now I feed them, graft 2-3 hours later after we've made the cell builders. All brood chambers having a frame feeder I don't have to worry about carting that equipment around.

I suppose the extra volume of 2 gallons is good, requiring less visits for feeding. If hives are very light we also feed the bottom box. I know it's a pain but it's usually not that many hives that require this. If they are drastically light there are always supersize feeders, you know drums. I usually never let colonies get in that state.

Jean-Marc