# Hive-top box feeder warning



## KQ6AR (May 13, 2008)

You're right the screens don't fit that well.
I used silicone to seal around the edges of mine. It did the trick.


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## hoodswoods (May 15, 2009)

I feel like I solved the drowning issue - is this what you were dealing with?

My after-thought, re all those hive beetles, was that here I had 80% of an empty box with lots of very small spaces (btween the plastic feeder sides and box frame) where no bees could patrol. Have you done anything for this issue?


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## kopeck (May 26, 2007)

I have the same feeders (miller) and had to fix them like you did.

Drowning was never much of a problem, just a few bees overall.

My biggest gripe is bees building comb in the blasted things. Maybe I have bees that just love to build comb, I don't know but I've had trouble for a few years now. Not all colonies do it it, but a few do and it's a mess.

I'm moving it Mason jars over the inner cover sitting in a stand. I make the stands, the jars are cheap as are the little metal covers and will last forever.

Clean up is done in the dish washer, the miller type I had to take a part if it was in need of a good cleaning.

With pint jars you need a shallow super to cover them, with quarts you need a deep.

K


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## KQ6AR (May 13, 2008)

Yes drowning was the issue, before sealing around the screen. My wifes hive fills the opening of hers with comb, my bees aren't as bad.


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## Velbert (Mar 19, 2006)

IF you ever buy another hive top feeder i think this is by far the best

https://www.dadant.com/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=616


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## HAB (May 17, 2008)

Congrats on getting your feeder squared away. Floaters (plastic beads available in the craft section of local Wal-Mart or other) work realy well to cut down on Bee losses in feeders also.
We were decimated last year by SHB. This year after placing West SHB Traps on all our hives they are nearly non-existant!


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## KQ6AR (May 13, 2008)

If I was buying another top feeder, I'd buy the wooden one brushy mountain sells. I've read a lot of compliments on it.


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## Fuzzy (Aug 4, 2005)

Have to say that I built an inner cover with 2-3in lip on top and 4 or 5 1/2 in holes in the bottom. I put 2 quart zip lok bags of feed in there and put the top on that. 
No drowned bees and easy to change out. Great for helping late season swarms get started.


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## Grant (Jun 12, 2004)

What an enlightening post.

I used to be a solid, inverted quart kind of guy. I fed over a screened inner cover. It worked great for establishing packages and newly caught swarms. Then I switched to those screens in the tops of inverted 2-gallon buckets. Not totally satisfied, but they worked. Then I switched to the hive top feeders as described in this post (bought some used from an old, retiring beekeeper). Yeah, I baptized a bunch of bees.

Then another beek told me about baggies, which I had formerly disdained out of ignorance. Well, I'm a new convert. They work well. They're kind of hard to pack in buckets as I haul them out to the yard, a little hard to pick up and slide over the top bars, but boy, the girls sure love them!

What I find with the baggies is to buy the brand-name bags (not the cheap ones) and keep the slits short on the top of the bag where the air bubble sits prior to slitting.

Funny how the simple things work.

Grant
Jackson, MO


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## terri lynn (Apr 5, 2009)

Ok, I've never heard about the baggie technique. Could you tell more about it? What size? How big are the slits? Where do you put them so they fit? Is the slit on top?

I've had top feeders with the above mentioned problems. I fixed it by putting empty supers over the top of the feeder, and the covers above that. It forms a good barrier, tightens up the feeder without having to clean off silicone etc later. It also helps with robbing (which I had in addition to drown bees) - I guess because the feeder is so closed off. Of course you do have to have an extra super. It works well, but if I had it to do over (and next time), I'd go with mason jars. Or baggies when I hear more!


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## Fuzzy (Aug 4, 2005)

a 1 or 2 gallon freezer bag is probably best. The freezer bags are a bit heavier material and usually don't leak when you fill them. So, take a 1 gallon bag and 3 quarts of 1:1 syrup. Seal the bag leaving the air bubble inside. Place the baggie ( on it's side ) on top of the hive and use a good sharp knife blade to puncture the air bubble in a couple of places. 2-4 1.5 inch slits will work fine. You may have to push the plastic down a bit to get some syrup on top of the plastic. The bees will do the rest. It may take a day or two for them to get started, but once the do they continue.

Fuzzy


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## hoodswoods (May 15, 2009)

Fixing those hive top box feeders is no more fun than moving them full of feed to get into the hive - BUT - when the bees are feeding like they are now, at least a quart a day, all I have to do is throw my veil over my head, pop the cover and refill.

Everytime I open the hive to exposed frames, I have to totally suit up and smoke, which is something I'm not willing to do for the 'convenience' of baggie feeding 2 or 3 times a week or more.


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## Skinner Apiaries (Sep 1, 2009)

we don't even cover here in the carolinas. Im running half gallons and gallons (HARD to find).

(I was referring to mason Jars)


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## JIm in Annville (Jul 25, 2008)

Personally I like Kellys Hive top feeder. Works like a charm and holds alot . About a gallon and a half. Just my .02.


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## winevines (Apr 7, 2007)

JIm in Annville said:


> Personally I like Kellys Hive top feeder. Works like a charm and holds alot . About a gallon and a half. Just my .02.


Is this the new one, the plastic box within a wooden box? I had to use a shim under it to make it work.


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## hilreal (Aug 16, 2005)

I am very disatisfied with the plastic in a box with screen. Tried silicone to keep the bees from getting into the syrup and works ok but a pain to do. Have also had a lot of comb issues underneath. Luckily SHB is not a big problem in our area. I will not order these again. I prefer either the strofoam or wooden with screen on the front end, Baggies work ok once you get the hang of it but you will go through a few leaky episodes plus you have to refill more frequently.


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