Homestead Essentials Ultimate Hive Feeder for Beekeepers 2 Pack from Farmstand Supply (in Hive)

I have six of these feeders and I am an experienced beekeeper. My initial use of these was disappointing (overflow, alignment issues, etc.); however, now that I’ve mastered these feeders, they are great. They are a modified trough design that is commonly used to feed farm animals where in many can visit the feeder at one time. In this case, that means that several hundred bees can be at the trough so more syrup is taken from the feeder to the comb in short order.You must remember that an inversion feeder (new paint can, jar, etc.) is very different from a trough feeder. The physics are VERY different. Inversion feeders are essentially “upside down” and the bees drink the syrup and as they do, outside air enters the container as occasional bubbles which equalize the pressure to enable syrup to continue to be available for feeding.Trough feeders release syrup as the level of syrup in the trough lowers to a specific level. Then the spring-loaded valve senses the drop in level and allows syrup in the reservoir to replace that which has been eaten by the bees in equal measure…until the reservoir is empty.Normally, these feeders are placed on an inner cover with bees given full access to the feeders through one or more holes in the inner cover. You need to place an empty deep hive body over the inner cover to prevent robbing by neighboring hives or other insect predators. As long as your hive top (roof) fits tightly over the empty deep super, you do not need a second inner cover. Feeders are only used for relatively short periods of time so when you’re finished feeding, just place the hive back into its normal configuration.The “bee space” is about right and I have had no issues with bees drowning in the sugar syrup in the trough. As with any feeder that uses inversion to create a suction, you should wait for the feeder to be empty to remove it. If necessary, you can remove the feeder even with a little syrup remaining if you apply a little downward pressure to the blue base while quickly lifting the feeder reservoir straight up. Holding the bases makes sure the base doesn’t move around and potentially kill bees. A quick, upward motion makes sure the spring-loaded valve closes quickly and seals off any remaining syrup in the reservoir. Holding the base is a good practice as the plastic is a bit difficult for the bees to glue to the inner cover so it remains a bit easy to bump loose.I suspect where many folks make mistakes and complain about the feeder is when they do not take into account the slope of the beehive. Most beekeepers level the hive initially, then shim up the backside to create a little tilt so that any rain water than may get into the hive will roll out through the front entrance. Therein lies the problem. Even a small tilt (1/2 to 1 bubble off level) will place the trough at too much slope and the syrup can over flow the trough and spill through the hive and out the entrance (or through the screen if a ventilated bottom board is used). If this leakage gets going, the reservoir will drain almost completely out.For “regular” beehives with a front-facing slope: Solution…simple…just place some wooden furniture shims (shaped like a wedge and about 6-9 inches long under the trough. Put the thick end of the shims under the blue base nearest the front of the beehive. The thickness of the shim will counteract the forward sloping beehive and all will be well. Just make sure you align the reservoir with the notch in the blue ring.For Flow Hives with a rear-facing slope, place the thick end of the shims under the blue base nearest the back of the beehives. This compensates for the rear-facing slope of a Flow Hive which is needed to assist the Flow Supers in draining honey out.Remember: The mission is to LEVEL the feeders (base & reservoir). When you finish placing shims, the base should be level in ALL directions! It only takes TWO shims per base. Shims are available from most home improvement stores (Lowe’s, Home Depot, etc.) in a bundle for less than $5.00 (US).I suggest that you have on-hand a cheap “torpedo” level (about 10 inches long) to double-check the level of the blue base BEFORE you attempt to place the reservoir. Better to check and adjust BEFORE making a major mess.The wedge-type shims should always be placed in parallel with the frames that are below the inner cover.These feeders are probably inappropriate for cool/cold weather use as the bees would have to break cluster to travel up into the empty super and across the inner cover to the trough. New paint cans with lots of small diameter nail holes in the lid, are still probably the best cool/cold weather feeders.In warm/hot weather feeding situations, the trough type feeder consistently out-delivers the paint can type feeders simply because so many more bees can get syrup at the same time.Once you master the simple steps above, you’ll see that these feeders work very well.Leave the shims in place until you’re completely finished with feeding so you don’t have to re-level the blue base again and again. For improved efficiency and speed, you can purchase a few extra feeders , fill up and swap out with the empties you find in the hive rather than removing the empty, filling it up, and placing it back on the hive. Makes replenishment much quicker and minimizes the potential for robbing to get started. Remember that those benefits will continue on year after year so the slight additional investment in feeders will help you in the long run.You will BEE very WISE if you fill the reservoirs with water and PRACTICE placing and removing them long before you head to the beehives. Get comfortable with the principles and how these feeders work. Once you do, it will all come together and work.2017-05-16 AddendumWith the approach of warm/hot weather, sugar syrup can go bad quickly. These feeders enable the syrup to be consumed by the bees quickly before it has a chance to go bad. These feeders consistently out deliver other types of feeders in non-cold weather use.Note to 8-Frame Hive Beekeepers. You cannot use two of these feeders in an 8-frame hive body...they will NOT fit. You can use one along with a one-gallon can type feeder.Note to 10-Frame Hive Beekeepers. You can use two of these in a deep super enclosure.

Been raising bees for about 15 years and during that time have used about every feeder style out there. This is the best I've used so far. The quality of the plastic is high-end. The feeder is easy to use and works as advertised. Hive should be reasonably level. You do need a stiff and sturdy inner cover for support. (Sagging Masonite board will make it hard to level the feeder.) Easy to clean.I do have one design feature recommendation: The white syrup container has a spring actuated valve that releases the syrup when the container is placed onto the blue bottom tray. I would have expected that the design would allow you to set the syrup container down on a flat surface other than in the tray without releasing the valve, but no joy . . . the syrup container needs to be placed on its side or upside down when filled and not in use. There are a series of support legs on the bottom that, if the were a bit longer, would allow to place the container right side up without triggering he release valve. One other issue that requires beekeeper monitoring: when the feeder is emptied by the bees, they can climb into the feeder and from there will "follow the light" upward; in other words, they can't escape and may die.

These are very heavy duty easy to use sugar water feeders for honey bees. They are not cheaply made and they work beautifully. I have had difficulty finding good feeders for my honey bees for years. One gallon buckets, quart mason jars, entrance feeders, Etc. These are so easy and very heavy duty. I highly recommend these.

I purchased these feeders because they seemed to be a useful design. I have found that this was a very expensive mistake. My hives are almost level and I followed the directions carefully to put the gated side in the correct location but these things still spill sugar syrup everywhere, flowing down into the hive. I have tried repeatedly, reading and re-reading the directions, and still I end up flooding the hive before it finally stops flowing. On the one occasion when I had one of the feeders not flood the hive I discovered several days later that the feeder did not release any feed for some reason. After checking it, another flood on the bees. Refilling is also a challenge because bees invade the base when you take out the reservoir so you either have to remove the base with the reservoir or find a way to get many bees out of the way so you do not crush them attempting to insert the reservoir back into the base. This product may work wonderfully in the lab but has shortcomings in the real world. I am very disappointed in this product and would never purchase it again. I should have stayed with traditional feeder designs and not fallen for the hype and the hope that this newest "mouse trap" was the answer to all bee feeding problems. If you need bee feeders, you will be better served finding some other product.

I love this feeder! I almost didn't buy it based on the bad reviews. But I tested it out today and it didn't leak AT ALL on a level surface. So I put a level on top of it and tilted it until it did leak...that's somewhere between 4* and 5* (yes, I'm using asterics for the little degree symbols). To put this all in perspective, the current tilt of the Leaning Tower of Pissa is 3.99*. So unless your hive is seriously catty-wampus, you should be fine. Just read the instruction sheet; it really does have some helpful tips. Disclaimer: I have not tested this product in the hives yet. If I find it works differently in the hives, I'll come back and change my ratings. For now, I'm very happy with this purchase.