Questions on building division feeders

[Adam Foster Collins]

Hi there,

I'm just looking at converting 4 deep 10 frame boxes to double 4 frame nuc boxes, and I wondered about how you approach building them.

- What material do you use?
- How do you seal it?
- How do you approach keeping drowned bees to a minimum? (wire mesh, floats, etc.)
- How wide do you make yours?

I'm hoping to use this for late summer splits and my first attempt at overwintering nucs.

Thanks,

Adam

[BlueBee]

Oooops...another Rick Perry moment.  I typed all this up before reading the title of your thread!  Sorry.
I don't really have a good solution for division feeders yet.  I use lunch trays and coffee tops.
Can you make division feeders out of hardboard?

(Original reply about building the nucs in general)
I use foam, lots of foam!  Being in Michigan, it makes human sense to me to insulate a small colony of bugs that can only generate a few watts to keep themselves warm.  Do the bees need all that insulation, who knows for sure, I'm not a bee.  I do know that even my small colonies (4 deep frames worth of bees) can keep a foam box pretty warm.

I'm making up some double decker 4 frame medium nucs for next winter now.  I generally design my boxes to have a INNER width = ( # of frames + .6 ) * frame width.  Assuming you're using standard frames, that becomes 4.6 x 35mm = 161mm in this case.  That tends to give you enough wiggle room to deal with imperfect combs and/or propolis buildup.  Extra space on the outside combs just results in more honey stored there.  That is good if the bees happen to cluster over them.

I think a wood box + foam cover shell is a good compromise.  The wood inner part is easy to build and an outer foam shell gives the wood protection from the elements and as much insulation as you want to add for your location.

[windfall]

Lots of folks seem to like the ones like Mike Palmer and Kirk Webster use. They are made from sheets of 1/8" masonite glued and stapled to a wood frame. with wood divider down the middle and a small slot  for access from each side. Masonite smooth side out gives the bees good traction inside.
I got two when I bought my nucs, I don't think they are sealed with anything and seem to be holding up very nicely. They are solid and stable and hold quite a bit.

I don't have measurements on me, but I bet a search with their names and division feeders would come up with some more complete info. If not I can try to pull some numbers for you and post a pic.

[Vance G]

gallon zip lock bag, sharp knife or razor blade to make slit.  I need to make some of the masonite frame feeders that sounds very doable.  You are unfortunately going to drown some bees.  You need a float slightly smaller than the inside of the feeder to help minimize the drowning.

[BlueBee]

I like the masonite idea if the stuff doesn't bloat up and disintegrate with water.  I did get some 1/8" hardboard the other day, I might experiment with making a frame feeder and seeing how long it will last holding water.  The bees normally drink the feeders dry which would help keep moisture from affecting the hardboard long term.  The problem is there's always that last feeding where they don't consume all the feed.  Then sugar water can sit for a long time.  

I think I would take some hardware cloth and fold it into a U shape and stuff that into the feeder (upside down of course) to get any bees that fall off the hardboard something to grab onto.  Would prevent them from combing up the space as well.  I find a nuc of bees also likes a water source.  Maybe make a small apartment in the feeder for water too?

[hardwood]

After assembly dip them in bees wax to keep them water tight and prevent deterioration.

Scott

[rdy-b]

After assembly dip them in bees wax to keep them water tight and prevent deterioration.

Scott

save the bees wax and use paraffin--bees wont build comb onto paraffin wax like
bees wax-so you dont end up with a feeder full of comb--remember the old wood
sections that where used for comb honey production-they would brush paraffin
wax on the outside of the section so the bees would not connect hem together
with burr comb-i understand we are talking about mating nucs-but as a general
rule i would use paraffin so the bees dont build on it-- 8-)