Hive Feeders 101 | What Hive Feeder Should You Use?

Today I walk through a few choices for Top Feeders for your beehive! Enjoy!
My personal choice was the Ceracell Top Feeder
Here is a link for the Ceracell: dancingbeeequi...
For any of your bee equipment needs check out dancing bee!
dancingbeeequi...

[@rtoledo2]

I'm not buying another Mann Lake "improved ", just switched to ceracell. the 2 Mann lakes I have are the new ones. the screen rusts and bends on the corners "improved" one. once bees get past it they are trapped and the dying begins. Mann Lake needs to make that screen out of solid plastic that locks in tight.

[@whistlingbat]

This was exactly the video I was looking for. Very helpful! I plan to start my first two hives this April. I love your gentleness and respect for the bees. Keep the videos coming!

[@beemansmash915]

whistlingbat thank you for watching and your comment. This coming year I plan to have many more videos uploaded on a regular schedule.

[@ProvoRiverAnglers]

my man! Love the energy! It was fast paced, fun, and informative! You earned this old boys subscription!

[@SindreEide93]

one of the first things I do when I get my own place and stop moving like 4 times a year is that I get 1 or 2 hives. Been looking at bee keeping for years

[@davidmcneilly2727]

Keep up the great work with your bees. Thanks for the video!

[@jmac1467]

I have two of these on my hives now and I find a fist full off dead bee's around the center island inside the plastic cover, and a hand full in each corner inside the plastic covers. They have been building comb in the middle and the queen lays brood in it. That scares me, only because when I take it off to check the hive there is no way to see if the queen is up there when I lift it off.

[@beemansmash915]

J Mac wow that’s crazy cuz I’ve been using 5 and never had any of those problems. So easy fix for the Queen is to put a queen excluder between the hive and the feeder. That stops her from getting up there. She gets fed by the worker bees so doesn’t need to get to the feeder her self. Also I do t use it all summer. Only fall and spring with liquid sugar.

[@jmac1467]

Bee Man Smash , the excluder should keep her from laying, but the are going to still build with comb. I have had the feeder on the top of these two packages, and for the last 6 weeks I have had to clean a ton of I’m assuming drowned bees from under out of the corners and center cap.

[@beemansmash915]

J Mac ok so they may be showing you that they are out of room to put resources. Check the hive and swap full frames of honey for empty ones. Also if if you have new frames that are not drawn out put them in. Are you using 2 10 frame hive boxes for your hives?

[@mrfoss2925]

I believe either rooster or vino farm use one and had the same issues and it turned out he over filled. I can't find the vid mate but a search should find if for you. 👍

[@beemansmash915]

@@jmac1467 also check the ramp. I’ve seen some of mine didn’t have ridges for the bees to get traction going up and down. If the ramps are smooth scratch it a lot with a sharp knife so the bees have traction. That will help stopping them sliding into the liquid and drowning.

[@cedrichamburger6329]

Smash, you should make a video about your solar wax melter. I want to make or buy one.

[@beemansmash915]

Cedric Hamburger ok I’ll do that this summer.

[@sandykemp7080]

You convinced me.

[@joaoribeirodesa1163]

can you keep it during the winter with sugar paste on it? actually sugar will absorber moisture which works good, also have a quilt shavings on top of it to absorve moisture and keep them insulated, in Toronto. Any ideas i?

[@beemansmash915]

Yes you absolutely can do that. Concentrated sugar water won’t freeze until very low temps. I keep an eye on the feeders and before it freezes I scoop out as much as I can and fill it with granular sugar and remove the center cap so they can get to it. Then cover it up for the winter. Smoke the center cap lots as you take it away so the bees don’t get to upset about the cold and get mad at ya.

[@mm2093]

I am new to bee keeping - I bought one of these and it feeds them great but they are making comb on the bottom of the feeder and up into the middle section where they climb up to feed - is this normal? - it took them about 3 days to get that middle section full of comb - I have it set up like you do - thanks

[@mm2093]

Never mind - I read further down in the comments a there is someone with the same issue - I read the reply’s thank

[@beemansmash915]

The bees will make the comb to assist it climbing up the middle. It’s not a big issue. Just make sure the queen is kept away from the feeder. You don’t want her to drown.

[@aleklysikov6033]

Very nice feeder! But you put on top feeder galvanized mesh ! Pour syrup over mesh!!

[@beemansmash915]

The pail has stainless steel mesh that is over 2 small holes in the lid. Syrup drips out of holes onto the mesh and the bees drink it from the mesh.

[@KK-ml5qe]

Thank you for your video. I bought 2 of these feeders from Dancing bee. I am having a problem getting my bees to like them. Any ideas?

[@KK-ml5qe]

I also bought these as I was intrigued by the fact you can dry feed with them. I thought it would be ideal for winter. Now I've been told it's not a good idea as the bees have to go up in to the cold to eat and they will die.

[@beemansmash915]

Check the walking ramps the bees will go up and down on. If the area is smooth scratch it up with a knife to give the bees traction for getting up and down.

[@KK-ml5qe]

@@beemansmash915 the ones I got are ridged. Once they started using the feeder I was getting loads of bees drowning in the center and all 4 corners. I took it off and went back to my old wood box feeder with the center chimney. I am beginning to thing the ceracell feeders were a waste of money for me. :( Shame as they weren't cheap

[@NickPenlee]

G'day mate So let me get this right. When using this feeder you don't use a crown/inner cover; you just place the top metal outer lid on the feeder tray. When the hive is flourishing and pollen is coming in then you remove the feeder tray and start using an inner cover/crown board and cap it with the metal cover. Is this correct?

[@beemansmash915]

NickPenlee yes that is exactly right. In winter you can use the same feeder with dry sugar.

[@beemansmash915]

And yes you can use the feeder in the winter with dry sugar. All 4 corner and center restrictors are taken off so the bees can get at the sugar.

[@NickPenlee]

@@beemansmash915 Thanks mate; I'm assuming that you could use a dry pollen pate to supplement the sugar also; am I correct. Sugar :- white or brown? Do bees have a preference in your experience?

[@guardiandogoargentinos1385]

@@NickPenlee they say brown sugar will kill your bees

[@beemansmash915]

@@NickPenlee don’t use brown sugar. It must be natural Cain sugar. Make sure the company has not added anything to the sugar.

[@anthonyl.goraczko6099]

How did you get the top feeder ? They dont ship to United States !!

[@beemansmash915]

I bought it from my local bee supply store. I know you can get them from suppliers in the USA.

[@olgarebman2538]

Can I use it with FLOW beehive ?

[@beemansmash915]

I think so. But I have a lot of negatives about flow hives and using them in my climate. So if have or want flow hives, good luck.

[@quincymb8576]

Great video. The hyper-editing at around 5:30 stresses me out and I have to stop watching. Turns out Dancing Bee is a company that operates within a 1 hour drive of my house, here in in Winnipeg! Will definitely look into getting one of those Ceracells. So far I have only used frame feeders, and they are a hassle to deal with. To say nothing of the fact that in the fall, displacing two perfectly good frames of capped honey with a frame feeder of sugar water is pointless. Or trying to put back the frames of honey when its to cold to feed it a very bad idea.

[@roxanneharpster4579]

Great video.