Poorly chicken

[SpottedPig]

The bees arrive this evening. They have been shaken from a Langstroth hive into the Beehaus so I need to feed them. I have a couple of contact feeders. The Beehaus guide says that the contact feeder should be placed on a clearer board with the bee escape attached. Is this correct? It seems to create a huge gap between the bees and the feeder. Will they be able to reach the syrup?

[Olly]

I will say firstly that I am not familiar with the Beehaus. However the usual use of an 'escape' is to clear bees out of supers, in other words it is a one-way valve so that bees leaving via the escape can't return. I can't see why you would need this in combination with a feeder? You really need to speak to someone who's familiar with the way the Beehaus works, try giving Omlet a call.

 

As long as there's a space for the bees to access the mesh bit of the feeder then they will find their way to the syrup. If in doubt, leave the clearer board off and see if the bees are taking it. At this time of year they shouldn't need much feed anyway, they should soon be foraging.

[Old Speckled Hen]

I hate contact feeders, they can leak if it gets cold at night and the frames and floor get covered in syrup...but that's a personal opinion.

As for feeding in general they will need something to draw the frames and little and often will stop them filling drawn wax with syrup leaving the queen no place to lay. I like to use a rapid feeder and monitor how the frames are being drawn every few days.

 

At this time of year they shouldn't need much feed anyway, they should soon be foraging.

 

It depends where you are.

Here in Wales there will definitely be a June Gap till the bramble opens and new bees drawing frames WILL need feeding