Kelley wrote:
 
> Why are hives each fed with an individual feeder as opposed to having say
> a 5 gallon bucket of feed for every few hives hanging nearby. You could
> even have some hardware cloth of the proper size to keep bumble bees and
> birds from drinking it. It seems it would be a lot more efficient in both
> time & money to refill 1 5gallon bucket rather than 5 1 gallon buckets.
 
Tempting isn't it.  Of course you _will_ feed *far* more than just
your  own bees and the apiary will get _very_ exciting for a while
with thousands of  bees  everywhere!   You  would  also  feed  the
strongest  colonies  at  the  expense  of  the  weaker ones, which
probably most need the feed.   I  have  been  told  that  it  also
increases  the  risks of robbing but personally I'm less convinced
about that.  I always feed each colony directly.
 
Regards,
--
Gordon Scott          [log in to unmask]   Compuserve 100332,3310
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Basingstoke Beekeeper [log in to unmask]