I have bee wondering what kind of feeders everyone uses. What works best, and what do i steer clear of? Do entrance feeders work, or does any company make frame feeders for the TBH?Thanks.
Feeders?
I have bee wondering what kind of feeders everyone uses. What works best, and what do i steer clear of? Do entrance feeders work, or does any company make frame feeders for the TBH?Thanks.
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I use an upturned jar set on a couple small pieces of wood. The bees can get under the jar and feed, it's quick, cheap and easy. I did this with my 9 top bar hives this year and it went well.
Others use follower board feeders, baggie feeders, or entrance feeders. I'm sure some of them will chime in, too!
Matt
Top Bar Hive and Warre Hive Supplies
in my TBH I use regular sugar laid in the bottom.... no liquids... just dry granulated sugar..... works fine! no more than a pound at a time
For me the prefered method is a standard Boardman type feeder inteh back thru a notch cut in a follower board. No robbing, can be changed without opening hive area.
I made this follower board feeder for my hTBH. It takes a quart Mason jar upside-down with tiny holes drilled in the lid.
A 1/2-inch hole is drilled on the other side of the follower so the bees can get in under the screen and lick the syrup from below.
It's great to be able to refill the jar without moving the top bars.
Stevedore, I like your setup for feeding, but I couldn't help notice that it appears that you have one TBH inside another box? What is that white thing surrounding your TBH?
No, I beveled the tops of the sides flat and added a lip on top. This totally encloses the ends of the top bars. It probably looks like a box within a box because the top of the lip was painted white. More pictires on Biobees:
http://www.biobees.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=2626
Most of my TBH stuff is extreme simple and minimalist...except my feeders. I make frame feeders from pine/cypress framing sandwiched between two pieces of 1/8" hardboard.
Everything is epoxied, and I make several at a time. Stack the whole expoxied mess up with a sheet of plastic between each feeder and weight with blocks until it cures. Drill holes near the top of one side and drop a bar across the top to close it up. Flip it around and it doubles as a follower board.
I did this because I needed something with a very narrow profile to fit in my two dozen TB nuc's/trap hives. Each one holds right around a quart @ 144sq inches X 1/2 inch wide.
In my KTBH I just dump some syrup on the bottom...
Michael Bush bushfarms.com/bees.htm "Everything works if you let it."
My book: ThePracticalBeekeeper.com
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Leave it to Mr. Bush to trump us in the ways of minimalism!
By the way, Michael, how does that work out? Do you have any mold issues? It wouldn't really work on my TBHs as they have removable bottoms below the screen, and the syrup would leak out.
Matt
Top Bar Hive and Warre Hive Supplies
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