Rapid feeder below cover board

[Webby]

I always used to put the rapid feeder directly onto the hive under the crown board. Now I find out that was wrong? Bees never seemed to mind it.

Under the roof you mean?

 

[busybee53]

Webby - I always put the feeder directly onto the hive with the crown board on the top, then the insulation and then the roof. The bees always took their syrup down.

 

[Motobiman]

These different schemes are all news to me.

Does it matter if the syrup is thick or thin?

On my cedar national I have a crown board with a hole in the middle and use 4 pint rapid feeders and 1:2 syrup, a low eke, 100mm insulation above and then the roof.

Slopping some syrup down the centre hole seems to get them going.

On the polys I just put the dedicated feeder on top and bingo.

 

[Webby]

Webby - I always put the feeder directly onto the hive with the crown board on the top, then the insulation and then the roof. The bees always took their syrup down.

Do you mean onto the frames? Don't you get trouble with comb building?

 

[Webby]

These different schemes are all news to me.

Does it matter if the syrup is thick or thin?

On my cedar national I have a crown board with a hole in the middle and use 4 pint rapid feeders and 1:2 syrup, a low eke, 100mm insulation above and then the roof.

Slopping some syrup down the centre hole seems to get them going.

On the polys I just put the dedicated feeder on top and bingo.

Thick syrup this time of yr. 2:1 at least.

 

[Motobiman]

I was kinda following the Dave Cushman scheme using rapid feeders on full size hives and the dedicated poly nuc jobbies.

1Kg sugar to 630ml water he used but they take to that very very slowly and the wasps love it too.

I have found one part by weight to two parts water seems to work as the best compromise.

 

[Webby]

I was kinda following the Dave Cushman scheme using rapid feeders on full size hives and the dedicated poly nuc jobbies.

1Kg sugar to 630ml water he used but they take to that very very slowly and the wasps love it too.

I have found one part by weight to two parts water seems to work as the best compromise.

500ml of water to 1kg of sugar is 2:1. They take it fast.

 

[Millet]

I was kinda following the Dave Cushman scheme using rapid feeders on full size hives and the dedicated poly nuc jobbies.

1Kg sugar to 630ml water he used but they take to that very very slowly and the wasps love it too.

I have found one part by weight to two parts water seems to work as the best compromise.

Surely the bees will have to work harder to evaporate the water in that ratio of mix, that is why 2 sugar to 1 water is used this time of the year so they can get the job done quicker and get it stored.

 

[GaryB]

 

[Motobiman]

OK I understand and will try again with the thicker mix.

 

[Millet]

OK I understand and will try again with the thicker mix.

Its easy to do and that is from this simpleton, in today's current weights i use 2kg sugar and 1 litre of water it is pretty thick in the cold but i have my hive insulated so it helps to stop that happening, good luck.

 

[busybee53]

Do you mean onto the frames? Don't you get trouble with comb building?

Yes I do mean directly on top of the frames. There is no trouble with brace comb. The supers and brood boxes are all bottom bee space and the feeder is bottom bee space too, which gives one bee space between the top of the frames and the bottom of the feeder. Enough room for the bees to access the syrup but not enough that they want to build comb.

 

[Motobiman]

Oh THAT type of feeder.

 

[Webby]

Yes I do mean directly on top of the frames. There is no trouble with brace comb. The supers and brood boxes are all bottom bee space and the feeder is bottom bee space too, which gives one bee space between the top of the frames and the bottom of the feeder. Enough room for the bees to access the syrup but not enough that they want to build comb.

Oh I was thinking a round feeder like I use. Yours covers the whole top of the frames yeah?

 

[Motobiman]

Oh I was thinking a round feeder like I use. Yours covers the whole top of the frames yeah?

I too was confused about what type of feeder would sit on the top bars.

Makes sense now.

 

[Erichalfbee]

Oh I was thinking a round feeder like I use. Yours covers the whole top of the frames yeah?

I did at first....Miller and Ashforth are rapid feeders as is that big green one that Maisemore make/made?

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

I did at first....Miller and Ashforth are rapid feeders as is that big green one that Maisemore make/made?

Maisies still make it - they call it the Jumbo rapid feeder - they call the six litre one the Jumbo (same as big T's English feeder but with the cone at one end not in the middle) I suppose really the four pint rapid, rapid,jumbo rapid and English feeder should properly be called Brother Adam feeders or variants thereof to differentiate them from Miller and Ashforth feeders. BA made them with a wooden cone or pyramid with a hollow centre covered with a pudding basin.