I'm in my 4th year keeping bees and I have used these feeders without hardly any causalities and find that I am not disturbing the ladies when I need to replenish the sugar water. It works great in the fall if they don't have enough stores to feed 2:1 syrup also.
I had some casualties with mine. Some drown but mainly I had a heck of a time getting bees OUT of the middle hallway. I think this offseason I’m going to modify a bit and test a new design. I intend to add some shims to the hallway in order to allow for the proper bee spacing. I’m hopeful this will prevent the ridiculous comb buildup I experienced. I know it won’t prevent comb near the syrup but hopefully it will prevent comb in the hallway which was 99% of my gripe.
They look pretty high quality. I'm used to the Mann Lake ones that have a screen that limits their access to just the middle. Interested to see your results and if you end up having any SHB issues. The bottom wood may be a MDO or HDO plywood it's a marine grade adhesive that's used so they are waterproof. Thanks for sharing!
Yes, they are definitely good quality. I am familiar with the Mann Lake ones with an advantage being the ability to refill without really getting into the hive, but the downside being lots of space that can't be patrolled. I will let you know but I would imagine less potential SHB issues with this design vs the Mann Lake design since the entire space can and is patrolled. Thanks for watching!
It would be nice if showed one of the other hives feeding so we could see for ourselves how well it was working. Like as in taking the top off and seeing inside 😢
It’s all based on weight. You have to weigh each hive to determine if the colony has enough stores to get through the winter. Temperature only plays into whether you feed 1:1 or a heavier 2:1. Hope this helps.
I'm in my 4th year keeping bees and I have used these feeders without hardly any causalities and find that I am not disturbing the ladies when I need to replenish the sugar water. It works great in the fall if they don't have enough stores to feed 2:1 syrup also.
I had some casualties with mine. Some drown but mainly I had a heck of a time getting bees OUT of the middle hallway. I think this offseason I’m going to modify a bit and test a new design. I intend to add some shims to the hallway in order to allow for the proper bee spacing. I’m hopeful this will prevent the ridiculous comb buildup I experienced. I know it won’t prevent comb near the syrup but hopefully it will prevent comb in the hallway which was 99% of my gripe.
They look pretty high quality. I'm used to the Mann Lake ones that have a screen that limits their access to just the middle. Interested to see your results and if you end up having any SHB issues. The bottom wood may be a MDO or HDO plywood it's a marine grade adhesive that's used so they are waterproof. Thanks for sharing!
Yes, they are definitely good quality. I am familiar with the Mann Lake ones with an advantage being the ability to refill without really getting into the hive, but the downside being lots of space that can't be patrolled. I will let you know but I would imagine less potential SHB issues with this design vs the Mann Lake design since the entire space can and is patrolled. Thanks for watching!
It would be nice if showed one of the other hives feeding so we could see for ourselves how well it was working. Like as in taking the top off and seeing inside 😢
Stay tuned for a future video showing just that. 🙂
At what point do you stop feeding this way because of freezing temps.
It’s all based on weight. You have to weigh each hive to determine if the colony has enough stores to get through the winter. Temperature only plays into whether you feed 1:1 or a heavier 2:1. Hope this helps.
Do you know if they work as using a heavier syrup like Pro Sweet? I couldn't find any details about that on the Dadant site. Thanks.
Yes, they absolutely do. Any syrup would work great in this application. Thanks for watching!
@@beesintheweeds That's great. Thanks for the info.
Both my hives are drinking a gallon a day per hive right now can you over feed ?
Yes you can. You need to weigh the hives. Over feeding can cause the colony to become syrup-bound and lead to late season swarming.
Oh boy I better stop right now lol
They are heavy
Thank you
They are still building comb in the second brood box on one hive