Refilling your Hive-top Feeder
with Sugar Syrup
Step 1 2 3 4

Refilling using the EZ-Fill Top Cover

When you are using a feeder to give syrup to your honeybee colonies, you will need to refill the feeder periodically.  There are various reasons for continuing to feed the bees, which are the same reasons you began feeding them in the first place.  If you need to continue feeding, you can easily refill the feeder without disturbing the bees.  You can accomplish this if you do it in good weather and in the middle of the day, when the field bees are out of the hive foraging, and if you follow the rules of apiary etiquette.  To know whether you need to refill the feeder, you can easily monitor the bees' progress in consuming the syrup by visiting the apiary and performing Step 1 and Step 2, shown below.

These steps document the procedure required for refilling a hive-top feeder when you have an old-style top cover.  The process is much simpler when using the EZ-Fill Top Cover, and you can refill the feeder this way even in bad weather or at night -- you don't need to remove the top cover weights, open the hive, or disturb the colony in any way.

	Step 1 - Remove the top cover Weights Take the rocks or bricks off the top telescoping cover so you can remove it.  All you will need is to check to see whether the syrup level is low or completely out.
	Step 2 - Check the feeder Tilt the back side of the top cover up so you can see the level of syrup in the feeder.  You may not even need to refill the feeder.  You can gauge how fast the bees are taking the syrup by recording the date on which you filled up the feeder.  For a one-gallon feeder, the bees should completely consume the syrup in a matter of 5 to 7 days.
	Step 3 - Remove the top cover Remove the top telescoping cover and set it aside, top-down, on the ground.
	Step 4 - Refill the feeder Fill the empty hive-top feeder with one gallon of sugar syrup.  If bees are already crawling up into the grated feeding area at the front, pour slowly so you ensure that the bees are not covered with syrup and drowned.  Carefully monitor the syrup level to make sure it doesn't flow over the lip in the grated feeding area.  A feeder mounted on a properly-positioned hive, with only a slight downhill pitch, should hold a gallon of syrup.  But be careful each time you fill the feeder.  If much syrup runs over the feeder lip, it will run down into the hive, onto the bottom board and out the entrance, encouraging honeybee robbing and ant invasions. Replace the top cover and weights when you are done refilling.

Feeding and Watering
Hive-top Feeder
Opening and Feeding the Hive
Periodic Apiary Inspections
Preparing to Visit the Apiary
Sugar Syrup
The Feeder in Action

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