A bee feeder delivers supplemental sugar syrup to colonies when natural nectar sources are scarce or unavailable. This temporary food source is necessary during a nectar dearth (a period of low or no natural flower bloom) or when establishing a new colony or “nuc” that needs quick energy to build up its population. Constructing your own feeder is a practical, cost-effective way to ensure your bees have the necessary carbohydrates to maintain hive strength and support the queen’s egg-laying, especially during early spring or late fall. This approach allows beekeepers to quickly deploy feeding solutions using common materials.
Understanding Feeder Types and Materials
Beekeepers have several options for delivering supplemental feed, each with distinct advantages and drawbacks that influence the choice of DIY materials. The entrance feeder, often a small inverted jar that sits in a tray outside the hive entrance, is easy to monitor and refill without opening the hive. However, because the food is outside, entrance feeders can sometimes attract bees from other colonies, increasing the risk of robbing.
Internal feeders, such as division board feeders, replace a frame inside the hive and keep the syrup protected from external pests or rival bees. These typically require plastic or wooden construction and may hold a large volume, but they can take up space for comb and require opening the hive to refill. Top feeders, which sit above the inner cover, hold the largest volumes and are easy to refill, but they can be heavy when full, and the bees must travel higher to access the syrup.
For DIY construction, glass or plastic jars and five-gallon buckets are frequently used as syrup reservoirs. Components that prevent drowning are important for bee access, including fine mesh, hardware cloth, or creating small holes in a lid. Wood is often utilized to create a housing or base for inverted jars, particularly for external setups, while the jar provides a clear view of the remaining feed level.
Constructing a Simple Inverted Jar Feeder
The inverted jar feeder is a favored design for its simplicity and effectiveness, using a vacuum principle to control syrup flow. To construct this feeder, you will need a clean glass jar, such as a quart-sized canning jar, and its corresponding metal lid. This design can be adapted to rest on a specialized board at the hive entrance or placed over the inner cover hole.
Preparing the lid to allow bee access without causing leakage is the most precise step. Using a small finishing nail or a 1/16-inch drill bit, create between five and ten tiny holes across the center of the lid. The holes must be small enough that surface tension and the vacuum created upon inversion hold the syrup inside, releasing it only when bees draw it out.
After creating the holes, ensure there are no metal burrs that could injure the bees, and then fill the jar completely with the prepared sugar syrup. Screw the lid on tightly and immediately invert the jar to test the seal and the hole size; a few initial drips are normal as the vacuum establishes, but a steady stream indicates the holes are too large. The feeder is then ready to be placed on the hive.
Preparing Syrup and Responsible Feeding
The proper sugar syrup mixture depends on the colony’s need and the time of year; use only pure white cane sugar or refined beet sugar, as brown sugar contains impurities that are difficult for the bees to digest. For stimulating spring growth and brood-rearing, a 1:1 ratio of sugar to water is used, mimicking the thin consistency of natural nectar. This is prepared by mixing equal parts, typically by weight, of sugar and warm water until all crystals are dissolved.
When preparing for winter stores in the fall, a thicker 2:1 ratio is preferred, using two parts sugar to one part water, which the bees can store with less effort. It is important to allow the syrup to cool to room temperature before feeding it to the colony, and never use boiling water, which can damage the sugar into a form that is toxic to bees.
Responsible feeding practices require placing the feeder inside the hive to prevent robbing, where bees from other colonies attempt to steal the exposed food. Open feeding should be avoided as it can cause aggression and the spread of disease among different colonies. Feeders must be regularly monitored and cleaned with a diluted bleach solution to prevent the growth of mold or fermentation, especially in warm weather, as spoiled syrup can be detrimental to bee health.