I assume that the intent is to open feed, as feeders would moot the
question.
I did this with HFCS for a while.

What I did was to cut a large circular sheet, several inches larger than a
drum lid from stainless 8 mesh, and lash it with fishing line to a set of
PVC conduit curves and straight runs that formed a hexagon (what else?) and
fit inside the drum.  The mesh was taut inside the perimeter of the PVC
floats, and sloped down to just under the surface of the honey at the very
edges of the drum.

As the level of the feed dropped in the drum, so did the floating screen.
No bees could get at feed in the center area of the drum, but it gave them a
large landing zone.  Only at the edges of the drum could they get at the
feed.  The idea here was to feed a yard at a time, without collateral
damage.  Right next to the drum was a beach umbrella, with the umbrella no
more than 6 inches above the top of the drum so the wind would not catch it.
This kept the rain out.

But all this was useless in yards that might be visited by raccoons, as they
love honey.  I could have made a strong mesh cover for the drum, but the
drum only got used to feed the "barnyard hives", as hive top feeders were a
more foolproof approach for the outyards.

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