I constructed a  “super feeder” for open feeding situations.  It works great -- have used it for the last month during the extreme drought.  There is lots of surface area for the bees to utilize.

 I designed a floating board that fits into a standard Langstroth super or deep box.  I cut a sheet of 1/4" AC (3 ply) plywood to fit wall to wall (-1/8”) into the box.  I used a 1" forstner bit in a drill press to bore about 90 holes through two of the three plys of the sheet.  The center point of the bit pierces the third ply to allow sugar syrup into the 1” circular wells.  I used another sheet of plywood (19 7/8 x 16 ¼”) to close the bottom of the box.  I stapled (1/4 x 1” crown staples) the bottom sheet to the box and sealed it with silicone caulk on the bottom and corners.  

 I make up 4 gallons of sugar syrup and put it in the feeder during the morning.  In a few minutes thousands of bees are foraging on the board and the feeder is empty in 2 hours.  I bring the feeder onto a porch at night so I can load it up in the morning without dumping syrup on the bees.

 Construction tips:
 1)  Use a hive box that is perfectly square and smooth on the inside.
 2)  Cut the feeder board so that there is only a ½ beespace gap around the perimeter of the board.
 3)  Bevel the underside edge of the feeder board so it will float down without catching on the sides of the box.
 4)  Seal the box and floating board with beeswax or varnish if desired.
 5)  If bees happen to get around your feeder board, use fiberglass screen as a soft shim.  Staple a 1 ½” strip of the screen around the top and bottom edges of the feeder board using a standard office stapler.


Carl Korschgen
Columbia, MO


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