Maisie's poly nucs.

[maddydog]

I'm thinking of drilling a hole in one of the feeder compartments so I can feed fondant/pollen sub whilst retaining the other side for syrup. I reckon coating the exposed edge with varnish and stopping with a bung when not in use would be sufficient.

Anyone else done this? Thanks

 

[BMH]

Yep.

Done that. Works fine

I place Queen excluder to stop the queen getting up there...

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[Ian123]

You can also line the hole with plastic pipe, I use 22mm (boiler)waste for entrances kitchen/bath waste for larger wholes. Seal in with expanding glue or silicone

 

[maddydog]

Thanks both. That's a good idea Ian

 

[Hachi]

Why not just buy another and dedicate it to fondant?

 

[deemann1]

I just pop out the risers when need to use for fondant

 

[maddydog]

Why not just buy another and dedicate it to fondant?

Because I'd need to buy another 30 of them

 

[Hachi]

Because I'd need to buy another 30 of them

Ah!

 

[iann41]

As Deeman says, just take out the risers. Both sides can be removed and replaced. No need to drill any poly.

 

[maddydog]

As Deeman says, just take out the risers. Both sides can be removed and replaced. No need to drill any poly.

? I haven't got one at home to check but I'm not sure anything can be removed from my poly feeders except the polycarbonate sheet in the middle between the two troughs.

 

[Angry_Mob]

I find the dividers are tough to remove if the feeders are painted.

 

[BMH]

I find the dividers are tough to remove if the feeders are painted.

Tough to remove. Near impossible to get back in without damage.

Still only gives you access to half the feeder. I prefer to drill holes or use the BS Honey Nucs

 

[maddydog]

Tough to remove. Near impossible to get back in without damage.

Still only gives you access to half the feeder. I prefer to drill holes or use the BS Honey Nucs

I'll go back to the original plan of drilling a hole.

As for nuc design, I've swapped back to Payne's. They're cheaper than BS (in the sale and when buying 40) and there are fewer 'bits' to lose.

 

[BMH]

How do you feed fondant in the paynes?

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[birdsandbees]

All my Nucs are Maisemore design and I have done this.

I've core drilled a hole in one side so I can slap on a 1kg block of fondant, last winter I just removed one side of the Dam but the bees were reluctant to come up into the feeder to get it and I found it was getting wet with condensation and bees were becoming stuck, now with the hole in the feeder I cut a small square out of the packet and they come up into it with ease, it also means I can check with minimal disturbance and loss of warmth.
in addition the feeder is on top of the Polycarbonate sheet which also has a corresponding hole, even less heat loss through the top.

 

[BMH]

All my Nucs are Maisemore design and I have done this.



I've core drilled a hole in one side so I can slap on a 1kg block of fondant, last winter I just removed one side of the Dam but the bees were reluctant to come up into the feeder to get it and I found it was getting wet with condensation and bees were becoming stuck, now with the hole in the feeder I cut a small square out of the packet and they come up into it with ease, it also means I can check with minimal disturbance and loss of warmth.

in addition the feeder is on top of the Polycarbonate sheet which also has a corresponding hole, even less heat loss through the top.

That's the problem I had.

Removing the dam gives access to the fondant but the bees have to come up and over to get to it.

A hole means the fondant is within the 2cm of he cluster.

I made a very foolish error on two nucs this year.

Slapped the fondant on in a rush and left the blue backing film between the cluster and the fondant and they couldn't access it and starved. Gutted.

I now remove all traces of blue backing film before feeding.

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[Poly Hive]

I have just invested in some Maisy nucs. I bought the feeders out of interest but in general, I don't like top feeding as the risks are too high.

If I were to feed syrup (which I no longer do, too messy and too much of a hassle) I would use a frame feeder.

To feed fondant, which I will be doing, I'll make some simple ekes out of insulation board and put the fondant as normal on the top bars. Given that an 8 x 4 sheet of the board is circa £6-50 its a simple and cheap solution.

KISS

PH

 

[birdsandbees]

I have just invested in some Maisy nucs. I bought the feeders out of interest but in general, I don't like top feeding as the risks are too high.

If I were to feed syrup (which I no longer do, too messy and too much of a hassle) I would use a frame feeder.

To feed fondant, which I will be doing, I'll make some simple ekes out of insulation board and put the fondant as normal on the top bars. Given that an 8 x 4 sheet of the board is circa £6-50 its a simple and cheap solution.

KISS

PH

Exactly, the Maisemore Nucs come with the Miller feeder anyway, cut a hole in and bobs your uncle, additional cost £0.00

KISS

 

[BMH]

I have just invested in some Maisy nucs. I bought the feeders out of interest but in general, I don't like top feeding as the risks are too high.



If I were to feed syrup (which I no longer do, too messy and too much of a hassle) I would use a frame feeder.



To feed fondant, which I will be doing, I'll make some simple ekes out of insulation board and put the fondant as normal on the top bars. Given that an 8 x 4 sheet of the board is circa £6-50 its a simple and cheap solution.



KISS



PH

Dont you have to make the eke have a lip to match the nuc profile?

The feeders come with the maisies nucs so you arent saving anything by using an eke?

Surely just be easier to drill the holes in both sides and cram it full of fondant?

It will have better insulation and be a neater fit.

KISS

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[Jimmy]

I've found fondant in both Paynes (in the side feeder) and Maisemore (in a top unaltered feeder) nucs absorbs water and consequently becomes more fluid and traps bees.
Any others have this problem? I find it easier to feed either dry sugar (if weather good enough to collect water) or thymolated syrup.