[Remichi]

Hi all,

I finally got around to making a feeder for the Kenya Top Bar Hive I am making. The entrance has 9 holes (10mm) at the bottom of one end. The feeder can be put in front of 2 of these entrance holes. I found a large pickle jar at a local supermarket which will take 1.7 liters of water/sugar mixture. I will replace the yellow string with the tougher electrical wire used in home building.

I have a few questions about the feeder. I put plastic mesh in between the lid and the feeder tray. Will the bees be able to get to the water? Also I made holes in the metal lid of the pickle jar, but on the inside the metal is not flat. Is it better to flatten this protruding metal with a hammer? I am just wondering if the bees will actually be able to get to the water properly.

The thing I like about the entrance feeder is that I don't have to open the hive when feeding the bees. Also robbing is not possible.

On internet I see pictures of these kinds of feeders all the time, but never instructions about how to make them.

 

[Remichi]

You mean a lot of holes in the lid? What would be the disadvantage of having this many holes?

I could also take the plastic mesh away as there is no gap between the lid and the feeder stand for other bees to enter from.