Fondant Feeder

[Silex]

My first winter of keeping bees I had this small issue of the damn fondant making a right mess as I'm trying to stuff it into my hive having been given the wonderful advice of spreading it across the top of my frames. You see, I don't have bee space above my frames and me being new to beekeeping, not to mention a wee bit naive, took the chap at his word and immediately ran into trouble when the crown board point blankly refused to sit properly. By this time the bees were becoming more than a little bit peeved off as I’m trying to take the fondant off so I could refit the crown board!

To cut a long story short. I adopted to using a cheap plastic tub with a hole cut in the bottom to sit over the centre hole in the crown board and that worked really well unless the cluster of over-wintering bees decided not to cluster beneath the fondant. However, the biggest trouble I had was opening the tub to add more fondant, which invariably resulted in either squashed bees as I tried adding more fondant to the tub they were in, or losing inquisitive bees flying out when it was really too cool for them to be out!

What I really wanted was a fondant feeder that the bees could have easy access to regardless of where they clustered in the hive, and I could quickly add more fondant without harming feeding bees or those inquisitively looking to see what was going on.

I trialled an idea I had last autumn and it surprised me at how effectively it worked. Basically, as the rather poor pictures show, I made a square frame with a centre partition and attached a queen excluder. I cut a recess in the frame to take two acrylic lids so I could see inside, and used some flat wooden beading to screw the queen excluder in place. The feeder works by ensuring the central partition is at right angles to the frames, that way the bees always have access to the fondant. When the fondant is low in one side I simply open the empty side and drop in more fondant above the frames the bees are clustered on and the bees do the rest! Anyway, given the success of my experiment I thought I’d share it with anyone interested.

 

[REDWOOD]

I'll be the first !
In winter the use of QE is forbidden as the cluster of bees can enter except the Q leaving her to perish

 

[REDWOOD]

On the positive side exchange the QE for a mesh of a larger gauge so Q won't be left on her lonesome

 

[Silex]

I was nervous of that, but then I'd also heard that the bees wouldn't abandon the queen and I built three of these and the bees didn't move into the feeder, which I was watchful of. However, that might be down to pure luck and the fact that we had such a mild winter. Equally, it could be down to the fact that I used adequate insulation above in the form of two layers of Celotex.

 

[Silex]

On the positive side exchange the QE for a mesh of a larger gauge so Q won't be left on her lonesome

Food for thought - thanks for that

 

[oliver90owner]

14 x 12 and need to feed fondant?

Provision your bees properly in the autumn and leave them alone.

What is more simple than that?

 

[REDWOOD]

Just a heads up that all

 

[Silex]

14 x 12 and need to feed fondant?

Provision your bees properly in the autumn and leave them alone.

What is more simple than that?

Hmm... Year one, an acquired hive that was in a mess and very weak, saved by some very helpful people in the local club I joined. Year two... two late swarms, but thanks for your helpful comment.

 

[Silex]

Just a heads up that all

No offence taken Redwood, appreciate the thought. It's given me something to ponder on.

 

[Little John]

I think for someone relatively new to beekeeping, you did alright. In my view someone who's solved their own problems like you've done is to be encouraged, not criticised.
But - I agree with Redwood about replacing that Q/X with larger mesh - better to be safe than sorry ...

Many thanks for sharing your idea.
LJ

 

[Silex]

Cheers Little John, appreciate the feedback. I'm actually considering the opposite approach and using a smaller mesh, one that would enable bees access to the fondant through the mesh without getting into the feeder. The plus side to this of course is the fact I wouldn't need to divide the feeder in two halves!

Any thoughts anyone?

 

[Itchy]

I like the concept....but this winter will be my second, and I'll be going roughly down RAB's route. But, I will be making something similar for feeding nucs ( if they need it) maybe shallower and with drilled, larger holes in clear acrylic.

 

[BeeJayBee]

I think what you've done is a good idea. Would it work as well to just put the frame directly above a queen excluder without attaching the qx to it?

I'm not wholly convinced that a winter colony will be small enough for the whole lot to squeeze right through the queen excluder into what's not much more than an eke!

I leave my queen excluders on all the time because it gives me peace of mind to know that the queen cannot (should not) be on the roof when I lift it off. I think the risk of winter isolation is when there is a super of stores left above the brood box with QX in place. The bees naturally want to move to the warmest part of their home and so move upwards and could leave the queen behind, but a shallow tray containing fondant shouldn't lead to the queen being isolated and could mitigate the apparent risk of fondant dripping down between the frames.

 

[Little John]

How about having no mesh of any kind, nor q/x ? Just a simple eke a couple of inches in depth. That way the fondant could be rolled out into thin slabs, covered in cling-film, freezer bag or similar, with a couple of slits cut in what will be their undersides. That way the fondant will lie directly on top of the top bars, and the plastic will stop, a) the fondant from drying out, and b) the fondant from absorbing any excess moisture and thus slumping down onto the bees. Nothing original in this, it's being done all the time.

I'd be tempted to keep the central divider, as that way you could use 2 x fairly thin sheets of plastic (3mm-ish), as without the divider you'd need a sheet somewhere around 6mm to cover an 18" span without some kind of support.

I think the use of a plastic crown board like this is very desirable, as you can then see how the fondant is going down without opening the hive just for a looksee.

Yes - it's better to do all the feeding well prior to winter and then leave them undisturbed, but sometimes it just doesn't work out like that - let's not forget the very warm winter we had recently, when certainly my girls remained fully active throughout, and some had even scoffed all their stores by the end of January. Giving them fondant proved to be a life-saver.

LJ

On second thoughts, I'd make the eke 75mm in depth. Reason: such an eke could always be used to turn a super (SNx) into a brood (DNx). (or a shallow into a deep (for the pedants)). That way it would be multi-purpose.

 

[Silex]

Thanks for the input everyone. The partition was an important aspect of what I was try to achieve and that was to enable the empty portion to be opened to add fondant without disturbing bees dining on the remains of the last feed. However, I really like LJ's idea of the 75mm eke, anything that serves dual purpose has to be a bonus in my book.

 

[Little John]

You can have both. If you make two of the opposing sides of your 75mm eke from fairly thick wood, say 25mm, then you could cut 'notches' in the centre of the top surface, halfway through the width. 12.5mm would be enough to support the ends of your central (and removable) partitioning batten.

Think I'll make one of these

 

[drstitson]

as per rab - fully provisioned 14x12 does not need fondant.

"Year two... two late swarms"

How late? mid october?

plenty of time to feed up late swarms otherwise.