Beemaster's International Beekeeping Forum

BEEKEEPING LEARNING CENTER => GENERAL BEEKEEPING - MAIN POSTING FORUM. => Topic started by: danno on May 07, 2008, 04:05:43 PM

Title: top feeder problem
Post by: danno on May 07, 2008, 04:05:43 PM
I built miller top feeders for my five hives that are now 3 weeks old.  After getting started I found some problems with my workmanship.  Three leak if I put more that 1 gal in them.  The other two dont leak but if they run empty many bees are finding a way to get by the wire and end up stuck in the top.  None of this has slowed me down.  I just fill them every couple of days.  If bee get by the screen I brush them out before filling.  I planned to fix these when I stopped feeding.  They have taken about 15 gals so far and are still feeding pretty heavy.  All hives had 4 full frames of eggs, brood, pollen and stores as of last sunday. Now for my problem. I have to go to North Carolina for 4 days this friday.  I dont have anyone to deal with this.  Should I just pull them for the 4 days?  If I dont i'm afraid i will end up with a bunch of dead bee trapped in the feeders   
Title: Re: top feeder problem
Post by: qa33010 on May 12, 2008, 12:35:24 AM
danno, if I had been able to get back here sooner I would have said yes pull them if there is a chance of killing bees by leaving them on.  Sorry I'm late.