Use Styrofoam "peanuts" in the feeders. Works for me when I use them.
1 - 12 of 12 Posts
I have the plastic inside feeder too but because it drowns a lot of bees I don't use it anymore.
Instead, I use a quart canning jar with a #8 window screen wire mesh and a piece of plastic to poke
some holes with a fork. A piece of rubber band to hold the wire mesh and plastic in.
The jar is inverted on top of a piece of dish washing cloth inside a shallow dish. I have been using this
method for almost 2 months now with good results. I use 2 jars instead of one for better result. Only feed
enough for the bees to take them in.
Inverted jar feeder inside another empty hive:
Instead, I use a quart canning jar with a #8 window screen wire mesh and a piece of plastic to poke
some holes with a fork. A piece of rubber band to hold the wire mesh and plastic in.
The jar is inverted on top of a piece of dish washing cloth inside a shallow dish. I have been using this
method for almost 2 months now with good results. I use 2 jars instead of one for better result. Only feed
enough for the bees to take them in.
Inverted jar feeder inside another empty hive:
Attachments
SNL, I tried the packing peanuts method. A big plus is that you can easily see the level of the syrup. My big boomer hive, though, started breaking down the peanuts immediately. It was a bizarre sound. They sucked the feeder dry in a day and then proceeded to turn the peanuts into a powder. No drowned bees. I saw bees taking trash out of the hive granule by granule. Truly bizarre looking!
So then I cut a piece of bubble wrap off, the large bubble kind. That worked pretty well. No drowned bees there, either. The bubble wrap, though, floats up really tall out of the feeder, so you have to push it down when you put the inner cover back on, which is a pain. When I removed that, they'd begun propolizing the bubble wrap some. I then used Dave's idea, and cut a piece of screen to where it was about half an inch more narrow than the frame feeder and about twice it's height. I crimped "feet" onto both bottoms and brought them together, then inserted into the feeder allowing it to stick up about 1/4" above. The open gaps on both ends make it easy to refill the feeder and also for the bees to come and go. No drowned bees there, either. Definitely I'm a fan of the window screen "tent", as the bees seem to like using it!
I made the mistake of jamming too many frames in a small nuc with a frame feeder. The syrup swelled the sides out, which pushed against the adjacent comb, making for comb that the bees could not patrol and protect against small hive beetles. I quickly got those inner frame feeders out of there, and the damaged comb, before it was too late, thank goodness, and reverted back to baggies on top w/a 2-inch shim for my nucs and the inner feeders with a screened "tent" ladder for my regular hives. And I leave extra space between the frame closest to the feeder to allow for swelling and plenty of bee space as well. Everything seems to be working well with this system: inner feeders for regular hives, baggies for nucs.
Thanks for the ideas, everybody. Truly a fun experiment. My favorite part was watching the bees run over to the stream of syrup as I poured in a refill on the inner frame feeder, sticking their proboscises into the syrup stream. Another big plus on using the inner frame feeders vs. a hive top feeder that I discovered doing this experiment: ants are non-existent. They don't come in droves and try to get in when I use the inner feeder, but they sure do when I use a hive-top feeder. That makes for a lot less stress on my bees, which means happier bees and a happier beekeeper.
So then I cut a piece of bubble wrap off, the large bubble kind. That worked pretty well. No drowned bees there, either. The bubble wrap, though, floats up really tall out of the feeder, so you have to push it down when you put the inner cover back on, which is a pain. When I removed that, they'd begun propolizing the bubble wrap some. I then used Dave's idea, and cut a piece of screen to where it was about half an inch more narrow than the frame feeder and about twice it's height. I crimped "feet" onto both bottoms and brought them together, then inserted into the feeder allowing it to stick up about 1/4" above. The open gaps on both ends make it easy to refill the feeder and also for the bees to come and go. No drowned bees there, either. Definitely I'm a fan of the window screen "tent", as the bees seem to like using it!
I made the mistake of jamming too many frames in a small nuc with a frame feeder. The syrup swelled the sides out, which pushed against the adjacent comb, making for comb that the bees could not patrol and protect against small hive beetles. I quickly got those inner frame feeders out of there, and the damaged comb, before it was too late, thank goodness, and reverted back to baggies on top w/a 2-inch shim for my nucs and the inner feeders with a screened "tent" ladder for my regular hives. And I leave extra space between the frame closest to the feeder to allow for swelling and plenty of bee space as well. Everything seems to be working well with this system: inner feeders for regular hives, baggies for nucs.
Thanks for the ideas, everybody. Truly a fun experiment. My favorite part was watching the bees run over to the stream of syrup as I poured in a refill on the inner frame feeder, sticking their proboscises into the syrup stream. Another big plus on using the inner frame feeders vs. a hive top feeder that I discovered doing this experiment: ants are non-existent. They don't come in droves and try to get in when I use the inner feeder, but they sure do when I use a hive-top feeder. That makes for a lot less stress on my bees, which means happier bees and a happier beekeeper.
Here's a couple photos of the successful screen dome idea from Dave. Bending a piece to cover both sides and the top seems to make all the difference. Last year I just extended screen on one side only, taping it secure, and I still got lots of drowning. The screen dome gives them a huge ladder-way to walk the entire length of the frame and down into the syrup, and any stragglers who make it into the drink can pull themselves out on either side. When refilling any bees caught in the pour that are floating to the top have no problem getting a foothold in either side and pulling themselves to safety. Definitely cut the screen a little more narrow than the frame so the bees have plenty of room to come and go and you have plenty of space to pour in refills. Thanks, everybody!
![Automotive exterior Tire Bumper Auto part Vehicle]()
![Wood Plywood]()
Still like the FATBEEMANS NO-LEAK FEEDER. Patnent pending but thats another thread! lol :lpf:
Zero drowning. Contained, so no frenzy of robbing to contend with. A 10 frame size box can be adapted to fit anything with the addition of some wooden inserts where it meets the top of the hive box below. If you add some door weather strip along the top edges where the telescoping lid fits on....even ants or other small creatures cannot get in. IMHO...the perfect feeder. :thumbsup:
Attachments
1 - 12 of 12 Posts
