Cold weather feeders

[Bush_84]

I made a nice little feeder.  I had a topic about it earlier but I thought I'd post a picture or two.  It encloses a jar and you put light bulbs in it to keep the jar warm.  It has worked wonders.  It has allowed my bees to take down syrup 24/7 even when it's to cold.  Otherwise the syrup would cool and I'd have to be out there daily to change the jar.  

http://i993.photobucket.com/albums/af52/dpboll/f3c329c128f57dc1592548438ae63351_zpsf9cd9bca.jpg

http://i993.photobucket.com/albums/af52/dpboll/1ea1cc03b42acbab828205d7dae1b98f_zps60de1814.jpg

I just put this right over the bees with a deep over it.  You could also put over the inner cover.

[BlueBee]

Looks like a good use for those old obsolete Edison light bulbs  :)

[BeeMaster2]

I hope you are using low wattage bulbs. I would be concerned about it catching fire.
Jim

[Bush_84]

Each bulb is 15 watts.

[capt44]

A person could do the same thing with a low wattage incubator heater with or without a fan.
Set the thermostat to keep the temperature above freezing or 101 degrees where ever you want the temperature.

[BlueBee]

I hope you are using low wattage bulbs. I would be concerned about it catching fire.

I just hope the government doesn't get involved in setting building codes for bee hives, or I'll be in trouble.  :-D

Another option might be solar heated syrup.  Maybe cover the top of the feeder box with polycarbonate; turning it into a mini greenhouse.  That would probably warm the syrup up nicely on a sunny day.  Sun provides something like 100 watts of energy per sq foot, that's more energy than the light bulbs.