witch feeder?

[prana vallabha]

hi ...i will bee getting my bee's in 2 weeks and wondered what is the preffered feeder for my hive ( might sound like a simple question , but if you dont ask you dont know )

 

[protheroe]

i find the round plastic rapid feeders work well.The bees can be fed without opening them up.Late in the season you can get large ammounts of syrup into the hive quickly and with minimum disturbance

 

[oliver90owner]

A rapid feeder should be OK for this time of the year. You need an extra box to cover it (usually a shallow is available). To be honest, they should not need feeding - at least initially, as there should be a couple week's worth of stores in there.

What you most definitely don't want them to do is fill up any, and all, available comb with stores. You need extras bees; that means as many house bees nursing new brood as possible - not busy drawing comb for stores, shifting copious amounts of uneeeded stores and reducing it down to sugar honey, followed by capping. Your colony will expand with bees, not sugar!

That said, the forecast is still not good, so better to be ready.

BTW a witch's feeder - probably a large cast iron spoon straight from the cauldron!

 

[REDWOOD]

The type you can use with a broom stick are quite good lol

 

[Dusty Rhodes]

Hi Prana,

In exactly the same state as you - collect bees in a fortnight.

My supplier, the RBI, also recommends a rapid feeder.

Which is why, I guess, you've had such speedy replies to your question!

Dusty

 

[alanf]

i find the round plastic rapid feeders work well.The bees can be fed without opening them up.

Good choice to start with. For one or two hives close enough to check every day or two they are fine. The two litre capacity fills pretty well from a well washed larger milk container with minimal spill. If you don't have a lot of storage they even rinse in the dishwasher and don't look out of place in a kitchen cupboard.

Larger feeders such as the square 'english' with a central feed hole are worthwhile if you cannot check frequently and are sized to fit in a national super box. Dedicated ashforth/miller type wooden ones are used by some but can be harder to keep leak free, empty if part used and they need storage when not in use. Some like the 'contact' feeders but too messy IMHO.

 

[oliver90owner]

IMO, Ashforth and Miller feeders are relevant to autumn feeding, but not for a nuc, or even a full colony at this time of the year (normally!).

 

[mbc]

Probably a cauldron but the only recipe for feed I could find was :
Eye of newt, and toe of frog, Wool of bat, and tongue of dog, Adder's fork, and blind-worm's sting, Lizard's leg, and howlet's wing

 

[Dusty Rhodes]

Probably a cauldron but the only recipe for feed I could find was :
Eye of newt, and toe of frog, Wool of bat, and tongue of dog, Adder's fork, and blind-worm's sting, Lizard's leg, and howlet's wings

..... these are a few of my favourite things.

 

[Black Comb]

Ideally you need 3.
A rapid/miller/ash forth type for the autumn.
A frame feeder, ideal for building up a nuc
A contact feeder for spring feeds to replicate a nectar flow and get the queen laying.

If your bees are hungry any feeder will suffice.

 

[enrico]

If you get the feeder with a cup that fits inside then make sure that after you have filled it with feed the cup fits snugly on the base. Otherwise the bees will squeeze underneath and drown. These tips help

 

[itma]

Another vote for having a round white plastic rapid feeder among your collection of bee-bits.

But its not the answer to everything - and sometimes the bees may be a bit thick about realising that they need to go up, and then down to get to the syrup.
A leafy twig stuffed down the 'chimney', towards the hive, with a couple of spoonfuls of syrup dribbled over may help them find their way up.

If you can do it before there are bees involved, its a good idea to position the feeder exactly above the hole, and then mark round it on the crownboard, to show you where the feeder needs to be positioned.
This is particularly so with the 'off-centre' hole, that you will probably position directly above your mini-colony, for most effective feeding. One less thing to fuss over, when there are hundreds of bees that haven't understood what is expected of them!


For feeding really small quantities of syrup to a small colony, I've been impressed with the contact feeder 'lid' that screws onto a standard honey jar. Not for feeding honey (don't even think of it), but for feeding syrup better than the traditional 'punch a few small holes in the lid' approach.
At a couple of quid, its very well worthwhile to have available. (If the rapid feeder isn't at least half full, or they don't think its warm enough, they may not do much with it.)
The glass jar makes it really easy to see how much syrup remains, and the bees take from it very easily.
Only thing to be aware of is that its not quite big enough to cover the whole of the standard feeder hole - which is sized for a porter escape. I use a trimmed-off bit of thin clear stiffish but flexy plastic, that I think came from around a bought-in sponge cake, to cover the rest of the hole.
Good idea to order at least one of these things at the same time as your plastic rapid feeder.

 

[protheroe]

Probably a cauldron but the only recipe for feed I could find was :
Eye of newt, and toe of frog, Wool of bat, and tongue of dog, Adder's fork, and blind-worm's sting, Lizard's leg, and howlet's wing

and i have only been feeding sugar and water.
Is this recipie the latest varroa treatment?

 

[The Cumbrian]

Is this recipie the latest varroa treatment?

No its a lure for bait hives.

 

[nelletap]

I bought one of the white rapid feeders that holds about 2 - 3 litres to start with - it did the job but there were a few drowned bees when I was still sensitive to the cost I had paid for them. Quite quickly I bought a green miller feeder with two feeding funnel areas. I had looked at it and liked the fact that the textured funnel areas and the clear covers meant fewer drownings and also that I didn't need a super or similar spare to put around the outside - though established beekeepers will have spare supers, if when you start out you frugally buy exactly what you need you may find that one of these is actually economical in use. Luckily I did someone a favour when this larger feeder was on my wish list - they wanted to pay towards beekeeping equipment I needed and it was good to mention something I needed that was not too high a cost. I found the convenience welcome and it was easy to lift of the hive lid and then the plastic lid and see the bees taking the syrup and how much was left. I didn't use any protective clothes when I checked at dusk or just before because it wasn't invasive and there was a barrier so the bees couldn't get up avove the feeder.

 

[prana vallabha]

many thanks all who replied, as always many good tip's and many good jokes( about spelling) ....cheers

 

[Swarm]

For feeding hive, a litter tray with a couple of handfuls of straw to prevent drowning, place empty super over it, add syrup.
For feeding nuc same as above but with ice cream container inside an eke. Dip your hive tool and drip some syrup on the top bars if they need encouraging.

 

[oliver90owner]

For feeding hive, a litter tray with a couple of handfuls of straw to prevent drowning, place empty super over it,

IMO not a great idea at the moment. That is all the bees need - even more empty space to heat!

 

[Swarm]

Surprise, surprise.

 

[Quigs]

Glad this was asked as i was about to ask the same question!

I have a Nuc arriving very soon but the chap who is providing it is on holiday (so can't ask him), but before he left he said I need a feeder and best to use a cotton wick trailing over the feeder which makes sense however, (being a bit thick) Im still a bit confused as to how the feeder sits in the hive. After reading the thread I assumed an empty super was placed around it, I guess over a crown board, but now its not such a good idea???

Where does the feeder sit?? My David Cramp book says use a frame feeder!!