On Thu, 27 Apr 1995, Jeff Fagerman wrote: > Bee-List Readers, > > I have a quick question concerning the effectiveness of hive top feeders, > in particular those resembling shallow supers. I have a few of these that > I have made, modeled after those sold commercially. However, everytime I > have tried to use them, the bees seem to ignore them. If I use a standard > Boardman entrance feeder, the bees will take the syrup (without robbing). > So the question is, "Do the hive top feeders of this sort really work?" > And if they don't, why not? Why would the bees ignore such a readily > available source of food? Although your sig gives clues to your religious thoughts and a few other things -- including a phone number that appears to likey be North American --it doesn't tell where you and your bees actually are. Without that essential info, I don't know if you are experiencing spring or fall, or never experience either. Seeing as you are apparently using boardman feeders successfully, I assume you have bee entrance activity. But maybe not *your* bees -- read on. If you have enough entrance activity to empty a boardman, unless neighbouring hives are emptying the feeders, you must have a fair sized hive of bees. Assuming that is the case, a hivetop feeder should work -- again assuming that you have it in contact with the cluster and not on top of several supers above the brood chamber. In my experience, well designed hivetops can work where boardmans don't -- particularly in cooler weather . Either feeder type can be an inducement for robbing if not protected from outside bees. Robbing can give the impression that your bees are being fed, when in fact the neighbourhood is getting all the syrup. Since you built your own feeders, it is possible, but not likely that the materials you used may have a repulsive effect on the bees if not the same as in the feeders you copied. If the shallow super you refer to is 6 5/8 inches, rather than 4 1/2, the bees have a longer walk and may not discover it -- especially if it is spring and your bees are weak. In short they do work, and work much better than the boardman -- which I would not recommend to anyone. I can only speculate why you apparently are not having success (due to lack of information). Come to think of it, I don't even know what you are trying to feed -- honey, sucrose syrup, invert? -- and at what dilution. Is there a flow on? Bees tend to ignore feed during a flow, but the boardman will continue to drip out its contents regardless (for the ants to eat) as the sun heats it and night cools it and the atmospheric pressure changes pump out whatever is left. The bag on top of frame idea works well -- but is fiddly, division board feeders (my choice -- I have 3000 of them) are extemely reliable (especially if made of wood and masonite), inverted jars and cans are fair, boardmans are poor, but hivetops are extremely effective for feeding large amounts in any season except possibly winter, if properly designed and used in a way consistent with bee behaviour. I have a few hundred of them and only use them in cases where I need more feed than a division board (frame) feeder or two will hold because the hivetop has one huge disadvantage for a commercial: if the bees don't empty it by the next inspection, it is difficult to handle and there is always the risk that a queen can be on the bottom of it when you take it off. It is difficult to examine the bottom of a full feeder :-). Hope this helps. If not, and you post more details, maybe we can figure out exactly what is happening. Allen W. Allen Dick, Beekeeper VE6CFK Rural Route One Swalwell Alberta Canada T0M 1Y0 Email: [log in to unmask] or [log in to unmask] Virtual Art Gallery: http://www.cuug.ab.ca:8001/~dicka __________________Why not drop by?____________________