# best type of feeder for top bar hive?



## ruthiesbees

I have 3 options in my apiary. It depends on the time of year and why I'm needing to feed.

First one is available from Beeline Apiaries for about $15. It only works if your hive has 19" bars (that fits the kit they sell)








Second one is also an in-hive feeder, but you have to take it out to refill it. LeBlue water bottles from Walmart fit just right under the bars in my topbar hives. The plastic feeder pieces can be found on ebay or amazon.









The third option is an open air feeder, that should be used with caution, as some say it can start robbing. This would be used away from the hives, and remember you will be feeding all the bees in the neighborhood. I use this one during the summer dirth when I feed a dilute solution. I also use this in late Sept when I'm trying to get the hives to put on some weight for winter. This one is my own design. It holds a 1/2 gallon glass container that is accessible from all sides so the bees don't get stopped up like I've seen in other feeders.


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## fitwilsons

ok, thanks !


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## Ryan McEachern

Just a caution about open feeding, it is prohibited here, so be sure to check the rules when you register your hives. One solution that I use in my top bar hives is to just lay a big zip lock full of thick syrup with a few pin holes in the top right down on the bottom of the hive in behind the bars of drawn comb. This wont work if your hive is totally full of drawn comb, but then it is unlikely you would need to feed at that point. 

Its very easy to just pop the lid and pull the back bars and put another baggie right on top of the empty one when they run out. The whole thing takes seconds really. If you have several TBH in your yard, have a few bags ready and zipped up but without the pin holes in them. You can just just place the bag in flat, then poke a few holes in whatever surface ends up on the top. If you like to reuse things, you can collect them all when you are done feeding and then tape the holes up with scotch tape.

Have fun!


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## fitwilsons

ok, what ratio of sugar/water do you use?


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## Riverderwent

fitwilsons said:


> ok, what ratio of sugar/water do you use?


Spring and summer, one to one; fall, two (sugar) to one (water).


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## fitwilsons

alright,thanks


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## MartinW

1st year beek here. I used a baggie feeder with honey from a local bee club member I trusted on my packages last year. Worked great.


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## Matt903

I use a plastic ice cream container in the back of the hive. Cheap, simple, easy to fill, does not promote robbing.


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## DillardGA.

I build my own front and back view sitting in hive can change jars without bothering bees.


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## fitwilsons

ok, wow thats a lot of different kinds of feeders,i like the bucket idea i might try it with the baggie feeder to see which one i like better.
also,do you just get the sugar at the store or do you have a place where you get it bulk? one last thing,what kind of sugar do use?
thanks!


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## threepingsthree

I take a 1/2 gallon glass jar and poke a few holes in the lid, invert it and sit in the back of the hive on two thin strips of wood. The only problem is that I have to open the back of the hive to see how fast they are consuming the feed. In the past I used boardman feeders in a special cut notch in the back of the hive. Since then i've built hives with fewer openings than more. Openings are just robbing accidents waiting to happen. It always seemed no matter how I make the wedges or stoppers they kept falling out


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## shannonswyatt

Boardman style feeders or just a mason jars with some holes in it and invert, then put it in the back of the hive.


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## ruthiesbees

fitwilsons said:


> ok, wow thats a lot of different kinds of feeders,i like the bucket idea i might try it with the baggie feeder to see which one i like better.
> also,do you just get the sugar at the store or do you have a place where you get it bulk? one last thing,what kind of sugar do use?
> thanks!


I tried the open bucket in the back of the hive, like Wyatt Mangum suggests in his book, but I was constantly drowning bees-even with floats for them to stand on. As for sugar, I buy Domino cane sugar at BJ's. 25# bag for under $10.


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## fitwilsons

[I tried the open bucket in the back of the hive, like Wyatt Mangum suggests in his book, but I was constantly drowning bees-even with floats for them to stand on.]

ooo, so that probably wouldn't be the best idea!

with the jar idea, why doesn't the syrup just pour out?

thanks everyone for all the help!


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## shannonswyatt

Vacuum. You only have little holes. They don't leak very much at all.


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## fitwilsons

shannonswyatt said:


> Vacuum. You only have little holes. They don't leak very much at all.


hmm, I tried to test the jar idea, i put one 1 1/6 hole in the middle of the lid and put some 1/1 sugar syrup in it, it dripped about once every 5 seconds,is that ok or should i try to put a smaller hole in it?
thanks


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## Bombus_perplexus

fitwilsons said:


> hmm, I tried to test the jar idea, i put one 1 1/6 hole in the middle of the lid and put some 1/1 sugar syrup in it, it dripped about once every 5 seconds,is that ok or should i try to put a smaller hole in it?
> thanks


I'm assuming you mean a 1/6" hole. Thats pretty big. They don't need to be that big. If you have a small brad nail or even a thumb tack, that size would be adequate. Make sure to have multiple holes. One hole isn't very efficient as it doesn't allow multiple bees to feed at one time. 

In the past, I have used a boardman feeder in the unused area of the hive with a slot notched out in the follower board that is just large enough for the feeder to be inserted. Worked well for me and minimized robbing.


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## krista45036

i use the mason jar feeder also, and made the holes with the tip of an awl. just a tap with the hammer for each hole, remember how small bee tongues are. you can get 4 or 5 holes per lid


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## Bombus_perplexus

krista45036 said:


> i use the mason jar feeder also, and made the holes with the tip of an awl. just a tap with the hammer for each hole, remember how small bee tongues are. you can get 4 or 5 holes per lid


Only 4 or 5 holes? I've gotten 9 - 12 holes on a lid with good success and little to no dripping.


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## fitwilsons

ok, sorry I meant 1/16 hole. also don't have bees yet so it was just an experiment, not intending to use that one for the bees.
alright, so smaller holes next time.


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## fitwilsons

ok, sorry for the mistake i meant a 1/16 hole.


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## fitwilsons

arrrg, just realized i posted the same thing two times!


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## Bombus_perplexus

Not bad but still a bit big. You don't need a very big hole. I'd recommend getting a lid that is commercially produced from Mann Lake or Dadant to give you a good idea on the size of hole to use. Others will also prob chime in with their method of puncturing lids. All you really need to do is puncture the lid. You don't need to have whatever tool you use to make the whole go all of the way through the lid.


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## fitwilsons

ok, i think i might try using a tack or a pin.
thanks for your help!


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## crabbcatjohn

http://organicbeehives.com/id80.html
Here are mine. But of course you can make a simple mason jar feeder for a few dollars.


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## fitwilsons

hmm, don't quite see how it works.


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## dudelt

I have used boardman style in the back of the follower board but it barely got used. Using one like the attached picture works much better and is closer to the brood area. If you remove it, it makes a great hole for vaporizing. The hole is exactly the size of the feeder.


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## fitwilsons

dudelt said:


> I have used boardman style in the back of the follower board but it barely got used. Using one like the attached picture works much better and is closer to the brood area. If you remove it, it makes a great hole for vaporizing. The hole is exactly the size of the feeder.
> View attachment 22958


thats a good idea! dosen't take away room from the bees.


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## hideawayranch

Here in Southern Colorado we can still get below freezing temps during the night but 50's during the day. Which is sending the gals out looking for food. I don't think putting a jar of sugar water in the hive is the best idea right now for feeding, because the nights are so cold still. So has anyone tried putting dry sugar in a mason jar and inverting it inside the hives. Or making a fondant and putting it into a mason jar and that could even be hung outside the hive like a boardman feeder. Just trying to think outside the box. no pun intended


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## krista45036

i made sugar bricks and hung them in a mesh bag from one of the bars. its too cold for syrup here too, but the OP is planning for spring bees


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## hideawayranch

krista45036, what a great idea! thank you, easily done too.


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## krista45036

gotta give credit to ruthie & lauri for the idea :applause:


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## dudelt

fitwilsons said:


> thats a good idea! dosen't take away room from the bees.


Thanks for the compliment. There are other reasons I like this setup. Since the feed is sort of "on the way to the entrance", the bees easily find it and will consume quart or more in a day. I can see if a refill is needed from far away and do not have to open the hive to look or change the bottle. When not in use, I put a small piece of wood in front of it to seal it off. Robbing is never an issue.


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## jwcarlson

Baggies with a few small nail holes punched in them if what I used... Gallon baggies if you can fit. Don't fiddle around feeding a pint or a quart at a time. It's an utter waste. My 'Les Crowder' TBHs (God rest their souls) fit gallon bags well. If you have one with a more narrow design on the bottom it might be more difficult.


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## fitwilsons

is there a way to make that or do you just buy it online?(the boardman type feeder)
thanks


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## fitwilsons

:scratch:


krista45036 said:


> i made sugar bricks and hung them in a mesh bag from one of the bars. its too cold for syrup here too, but the OP is planning for spring bees


how do you hang the bag without the bees building comb on it?


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## dudelt

They are not building comb during the time of year when you use the sugar blocks. They will wait until there is a flow going on or until you can start feeding 1:1 sugar water.


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## fitwilsons

when do you need to use sugar blocks?


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## krista45036

sugar bricks are for when its cold out. bees wont take syrup colder than 50f.


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## fitwilsons

huh,thats VERY good to know, i would probably have starved my bees to death thinking that they were feeding on their syrup! 

thank you very much for mentioning that!


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## mhorowit

stuff the bucket full of pine straw, then add syrup - Mike


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## AvatarDad

I just have to say: I'm about done with feeding in TBH.

I've done wastebasket with floats, inverted mason jar with holes in lid, inverted empty "Paint bucket" from big box store, sugar bricks, and wet sugar.

None of these feed the bees well enough to make up for the ants. Even when it was 40 out and I had a little apple sized sugar brick in the hives, the ants were in the hives even if there were zero in my yard. The ants will find the sugar and come for it. Period.

The best of these bad options was the paint-bucket, and maybe the mason jar. You need a completely contained feeder that requires a bee's long proboscis to drink. Then the only thing the ants are after is the occasional drop which falls on the hive floor. Anything else, and it is ant city. I've always thought feeding set my bees back, probably because they were in the hive fighting ants instead of outside of the hive collecting pollen.

Waste basket/bucket with floats was the worst. It is hard to describe how awful that was. I nearly quit beekeeping; threw those suckers in the recycling and drove them to the dump.

Open feeding is different. I don't like it much either, but at least the mayhem is 50 feet from the hive. My mind is not made up about that yet. I can also protect open feeders with moats which kill ants but not bees.

Leave your bees great-googly-moogly quantities of honey in the fall, and then don't feed. Just MHO.

Mike

(PS: there seems to be debate about hole size in lids for mason feeders... which would apply to my clean-paint-can feeders as well. The hole size really doesn't matter much; with any sized hole there will be leakage until a vacuum forms and then the leaking stops. Invert the feeder over a bucket and let it spew, and then place it in the hive when it settles down and stops leaking. Don't go crazy however: use your smallest drill bit (1/16 for me) or a push-pin. Lots of little holes is best... Ants crawl in the big holes).


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## mhorowit

AvatarDad said:


> I just have to say: I'm about done with feeding in TBH.
> 
> Mike - I assume you have been liberally dusting the legs of the hive with ground cinnamon. That seems to be keeping ants away from me.
> As far as floats in the feeder, I tried a bunch of ideas, but bees don't swim for XXXX. Finally i gave up and read the instructions (Mangum's book) and the problem was solved. - Mike


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## msl

I run Palmer/Webster inspired division board feeders in mine...never could get the darn things water tight so no i just put a quart bag in each side


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## trishbookworm

I have tried open feeding - that as a BIG footprint. After I had filled a couple of jars for 2 days in a row, the bees "learned" that I'm the sugar daddy and started flying out to greet me. And anyone else within 50-100 feet of the hives. Not aggressive, just questing. And they flew in a searching pattern during the time of day where I fed them the 2 days prior when I stopped putting feed out. If you have a very wide backyard - more than 200' in width and depth and from any neighbor - this won't affect anyone but your own peeps. 

I currently use mason jars with a thumbtack-sized hole - just the TIP of the thumbtack, not all the way to the base of the thumbtack. I'm sure there is a better name for that dimension. 

I only feed if 1) for a new hive or split, bees have not yet drawn out enough comb to fill the hive, or 2) during the late summer dearth, they are not storing enough nectar from the goldenrod and asters because weather. I put the jar past the honey bars, even past a divider. Then I can change the jar without opening the whole hive up. A strong hive will find this, a weak one will not. 

I use 1:1 sugar to water in the spring, 2:1 in the fall. When needed. I don't worry about the kind of sugar because chemistry. I do worry about the cost, so bulk from walmart is good. 

For ants, I have used lithium grease, like for axles or car-type-things, applied liberally in a circle low around the legs that hold up the hive table. it works well as long as weeds do not get tall enough to provide an alternate path.

Good job to the OP for trying out the various methods before just popping into your future hive! It seems obvious, but its better to trust after verifying.  If I didn't have a ton of mason jars with lids with holes in them, I would explore the baggie method...


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## Cloverdale

MartinW said:


> 1st year beek here. I used a baggie feeder with honey from a local bee club member I trusted on my packages last year. Worked great.


Martin, I would not feed liquid honey to my hive from somewhere else. One of the Entomologists at Cornell, who has passed on, and I can’t think of his name, would buy honey wherever he visited and tested them for AFB spores. I believe it was something like 90% had AFB spores in the honey. You can consume the honey yourself with no ill effects, but personally, I would not take a chance on feeding it to my bees.


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## GregB

One common issue with TBs that I see often - no space above the bars is provisioned.
You want to feed the bees from the top during cold anyway; they will not go down and hardly go sideways.

So the space above bars allows to 1)place jars up there and 2)place dry sugar.
I do both with my hives (very similar to TB hives, just deeper).
Let bees go up between 2-3 bars and feed.
Kind of like so:


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