Beemaster's International Beekeeping Forum
BEEKEEPING LEARNING CENTER => TOP BAR HIVES - WARRE HIVES - LONG HIVES => Topic started by: Pond Creek Farm on January 12, 2009, 09:22:57 pm
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Is there a trick to feeding in a TBH? I am building a couple with my sons, and we are putting new packages on them in April. When I start a package on regular equipment, I simply put in a frame feeder or a miller feeder (which I hate). How do I feed out the TBH package?
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If you build it so it can accept a standard langstrom frame then you could use your standard frame feeder. I've even seen a medium frame feeder to accommodate those who are using all mediums in their apiaries. I'm sure someone who actually has a TBH will chime in soon though.
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Use a humingbird feeder and remove the insect guard. A small one similar to a rabbit or gerbal waterer can be fitted to the side of the hive with the glass pipette inserted through a hole on the side of the hive. Refilling and feeding should be fairly simple.
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When I built my first TBH, I made extra bars. a couple were with 3/4 inch holes with screen, for ideas of allowing ventilation. I have about a 4 inch dead air space above the bars and below the top. And even though the top allows no light, the bees propolized every screen vent shut. I also made feeder bars that a feeder could sit on. You can make them with the standard bar and use the 2 liter plastic soda feeding method, or you can just made a "feeding bar" which is just an oversized wide bar, with a hole for a jar lid to insert. Although this is just a short feeding item as they will start building comb on this modified or larger bar, which you don't want permanently in the TBH - (although if built and measured properly you can do it)
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The least complicated way is the baggie feeder method. . .
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The least complicated way is the baggie feeder method. . .
True, the baggy can be laid on the bottom of the hive below the frames.
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I just cut a hole in the follower board to fit a Boardman feeder and I can feed without bothering the bees.
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If you have a solid bottom and seal it around the edges at the botom and drill a drain hole and tip it slighly that way, you can put a plug in the drain hole and pour syrup on the bottom. I've done this and it worked fine. Baggie feeders on the bottom also work. Some build a division board that has a slot in it for a Boardman feeder so that Boardman is on the other side of the divider and the bees just have access to the feeder but not the rest of the hive. Some build a division board feeder. If you build it fairly tight it can act as a follower board or even a division board. If you get a little fancier you can make it so each side can feed while not being able to get through to the other side and use it for making splits.
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I put a bucket on the other side of the followerboard. The whole TBH except the flying holes is tight to prevent other bees and insects flying in (the bottom is a wire mesh). The bucket is placed into the followerboard so they can walk straight down. In the bucket I used strips of bubble plastic, commonly found in packets and letters to protect fragile content.
(http://bieblog.morkland.org/wp-content/uploads/_mg_4027.jpg)
This worked good enough for me, but not perfect. They emptied it in no time, and I got very few dead bees.
One problem was that they tended to build new comb on the closest bars which quickly was connected all over to each other and to the walls.. They seemed reluctant to use the empty comb that was a bit further from the bucket. One other problem was that when the weather got colder, they were way more reluctant to take the sugar compared to a regular hive that had top feeder (similar to the miller type).
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I placed a baggie, with a slit into the hive before I dumped the package of bees in. Of course, the weight of all those bees pretty much emptied the baggie all over inside and syrup ran out the entrance. There were also quite a few drowned bees. The second day, I removed the baggie, put a little chicken waterer in with a quart of syrup and little stones in the tray so the bees had something to walk on. This worked well. My top bar hives have end entrance and single follower board. I just made new follower boards with a notch cut out of the bottom. I will be spring feeding using these with entrance feeders. They will be inside the hive so as not to promote robbing. I will be able to remove the top and change the jars without getting into the nest, and the bees can feed from inside the nest.
Robee
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I put a Boardman feed inside, beyond the follower(which has a hole for the girls to pass through). Depending on your design you can invert a gallon paint can just beyond the follower and completely isolate the nest from feeding chores. Just make sure you put anti-robbing equipment in place.