Been busy making feeders

Not for deer but for bees. I have been using frame feeders but I have to open the hive to fill them, and that really ticks off the bees...

So, I've been wanting to try some hive top feeders but I'm too cheap to pay $25-$30 per feeder to buy them. I spent Saturday and Tuesday building these. I made the nuc feeder boxes from 1x6's and I used medium supers to make the 10 frame feeders. I made the ladders/tunnels from 1" wide strips of 1x lumber. I figure with the ladders having 1" of opening versus 3/4 it will give me 3 "bee spaces" of depth. 3/4 would have been too tight for 3 bees to fit.

I made 15 nuc feeders and 5 10 frame feeders. That is enough to get me going on the hives in my back yard. I'll get started on more 10 frame feeders later.
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That looks really good. Well thought out too.

Thanks. I didn't come up with the overall design. I saw them online and decided to make some. Only thing I can take credit for is changing the dimensions on the ladder.

In case you saw my post a week or so ago in the main forum looking for a certain size aluminum or plastic container, this is what I had in the plans. You can see all the wasted space in the box. A larger pan would have held much more feed.

Brad,

Good stuff there. Are the bees totally segregated from you when you take the lid off? And I thought I was finished with my table saw for the year......looks like some more fun involved in those.

Got some pollen patties in today. I have 2 hives that I think I need to boost up a little. One is a split from a few weeks ago that is slow to build up and the other is a nuc that looks like it is slow to grow. What is your opinion of adding a little pollen at a time this time of year? I am trying to keep an eye on the SHB's.

Yes, the bees are still completely enclosed in the hive.

I'm scared of adding pollen patties this time of year. Those things are SHB magnets. Keep a close eye on them. I fed dry sub last summer and they took it fine. I will do the same this year. We still have clover blooming now so I'm not adding any pollen.