Using the Hive-top Feeder - Beekeeping Supplies Protective Clothing Beekeeping Equipment

Using the Dual-Access Hive-top Feeder

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The Dual-Access Hive-top Feeder will give you many years of reliable, convenient service in feeding your honeybee colony if you use and maintain it properly. This section describes the detailed instructions on the proper use and maintenance of your hive-top feeder, including:

Installation
Inspection
Filling
Cleaning

Placing the feeder

Covering the feeder

Set cover directly on
hive-top feeder

Install the Feeder on your Hive
You should first apply smoke in the hive entrance and under the top cover before opening the hive. Remove the top cover. If you are using an inner cover, remove it also. Place the feeder directly on the top hive box as shown here, being careful to not crush bees in the process. If you are not using the EZ-Fill Top Cover, first fill the feeder with a gallon of syrup. Set the top cover onto the hive-top feeder.

Never place inner
cover under the feeder

Note: The Inner Cover should not be used when the Hive-top Feeder is installed. If the inner cover is installed below the feeder, the small space between the cover and the feeder discourages the bees from accessing the sugar syrup. Using the inner cover above the feeder will interfere with checking the syrup level and refilling the feeder through the EZ-Fill Top Cover. Use the inner cover only when the Hive-top Feeder is not on the hive.

Check syrup level

Sight-check through
filler tube

Check the Syrup Level Before Filling (using the EZ-Fill Top Cover)
Remove the filler cap from the filler tube on your cover. If you tightened the cap properly, you should only need to use your fingertips to remove the cap.

Tip: If the wind is blowing when you are filling syrup, you may want to shield the flow of liquid from the wind with your body to keep the wind from blowing the liquid onto the top of the cover. You may also use a funnel to minimize any spilling. We have found that using a plastic, one-gallon milk jug with the bottom cut out works great as a syrup funnel.

Look down into the feeder reservoir through the open filler cap. You can normally see the syrup level with a simple sight-check like this. If you especially have a lot of shade, or if you are refilling the feeder at night, you may either need a flashlight or you may use some sort of dip-stick to check the syrup level.

Pour through filler tube

Replace filler cap
only fingertip-tight

Fill the Feeder (using the EZ-Fill Top Cover)

Tip: If your old top cover is warped, it may introduce enough gap between the underside of the cover and the top edges of the feeder to allow bees access to the feeding reservoir from the outside. You may be able to alleviate this problem by placing heavy rocks on the two higher corners of the cover, which may press these corners down and possibly correct the warping over time. As an alternative, you may also apply adhesive foam weather strips to the four top edges of the feeder; these strips are available at your local hardware store.

Pour sugar syrup or other liquid feed directly through the filler tube into your hive-top feeder. Usually you should add syrup only when the feeder is relatively empty. If you fill when the feeder still contains syrup, be especially careful to not overfill the feeder, as excess syrup will run over the lip of the feeder reservoir and into the hive body. This will cause robbing, attract ants into the hive, and will greatly disrupt egg-laying and brood production for a day or so. In a worst-case scenario, pouring syrup into the hive body may drown the queen.

The Dual-Access Hive-top Feeder will hold over a gallon of sugar syrup. The easiest way to ensure you never overfill the feeder is to fill it only when it is empty, and always use the same amount of syrup.

After you fill the feeder, replace the filler cap using only fingertip-tightness.

Cleaning the Feeder
(next page)

Starter Hive
Dual-Access Hive-top Feeder
EZ-Fill Top Cover
Year-Round Hive-top Feeder