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My plan is to put 1 or 2 3/4 inch holes towards the bottom of my follower board and then put sugar syrup behind it in my hive. Will the bees be able to get to this ok or is there a better way to do it?
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Sugar Syrup behind follower Board?
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I cut a notch in the bottom of the follower board and then put two small "entrance" or boardman type feeders in it. Seems to be working OK. With the holes there are going to be a bunch of bees all over the place behind the follower board. We have ours closed up well enough that there isn't much going on behind there, but some still find a way.
I will be getting a top bar in the near future. It has entrance holes on the long side...no place for a standard boardman feeder. Can one put a jar with a spacer below it on the bottom board on the bee side of the follower board or will they fill that area with crazy comb above the feeder?
A while ago someone posted a home made jar feeder on a following board system to the forum. Not certain what the title was. Maybe someone will direct you to that.
A while ago someone posted a home made jar feeder on a following board system to the forum. Not certain what the title was. Maybe someone will direct you to that.
It doesn't matter what entrance you have, this is all inside the hive. Just cut a notch in the bottom of the follower board for the size of your boardman and keep the holes to a minimum. Attached is a cruddy picture of what we did, but there are two smaller jars there side by side with two small pink plastic entrance feeders that we found in my grandpa's old beekeeping stuff. We ended up screwing the feeders directly to the board and then used thin plywood to make a "base" to cover any additional gap on the bottom.
If I remember I'll try to get a better picture next time we are in there refilling syrup.
![Red Window]()
If I remember I'll try to get a better picture next time we are in there refilling syrup.
Yes, WBVC, when the bees built comb down from the top bar, it quickly (2-3 days) hit the top of my jar feeder and they attached it to the glass. So I could not refill the jar. When I installed the package I assumed they would cluster at the entrance end of the cavity instead of the feeder/follower board end. I still have the jar feeder in the same side as the bees (nothing is behind the follower board) but I keep an eye on where the comb is. If it gets close to the feeder, I'll just add a fresh bar or two between feeder and cluster. This is where an observation window is really handy.
I wanted to feed inside the hive but didn't want to disturb the inhabitants. I built a followerer feeding chamber topped with #8 screen. I get my first bee package in a week. I was planning to install 10 1 1/4" bars with the install then move the follower all the way to the back after a week. I won't feed them till they start building comb.
![Mason jar Glass Wood Drink Table]()
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the bestest cheapest easiest way i have found to feed syrup to a TBH is to take the plastic container from an entrance feeder (or the biggest bucket(ish) container you can fit in there) and place it in the back of the hive, as close to the last comb as possible (under extra top bars, inside of the divider board). fill it with syrup and toss in a handful of pine needles. it is very little disturbance to remove(since its at the back), fill replace, and i have yet to drown any bees. no carpentry required
a picture from Dr. Mangum's site... http://www.tbhsbywam.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/feeder-e1367237602702.jpg
a picture from Dr. Mangum's site... http://www.tbhsbywam.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/feeder-e1367237602702.jpg
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