Has anyone tried the so-called baggy feeder

[tom]

Hello

  I was looking around and came across what some people are calling the baggy feeder. You take a gallon or a two gallon ziplock bag and fill it half full or 3/4 full and lay it on top of the brood frames and cut a slit in it and let the bees feed from it and when they are done you can use it again or throw it away. Has anyone used this method of feeding i also saw it in my bee cataloge from Brushy Mountain.

Tom

[latebee]

Yes Tom, I have used the baggy feeder and it works pretty well in the warmer months of spring and summer. Probably the cheapest,easiest feeder method around.

[tom]

Howdy

 Thank you latebee i am glad to hear that it works i am hoping for some more warm days soon. Because we are getting some pretty good rain this weekend and we have already got some today i know i am going to feed now because this cool weather is going to make them use up some of what they have stored.

Tom

[Michael Bush]

They work fine.  Just don't overfill the bags.  Put two or three quarts in a gallon bag, lay it on the top bars and put two or three slits in it.  You need somekind of spacer.  You can make one out of a one by two or a one by three or you can flip a top feeder upside down.  But if you had the top feeder...

[Ymbe]

They work fine.  Just don't overfill the bags.  Put two or three quarts in a gallon bag, lay it on the top bars and put two or three slits in it.  You need somekind of spacer.  You can make one out of a one by two or a one by three or you can flip a top feeder upside down.  But if you had the top feeder...

Always looking for ways of reducing cost :) the bag feeders sound like a great idea. Have I got this right though; the slits go on the top and how big should you make them to prevent spillage?

Don't know if these are available in the US, but the Drop in Feeders half way down this page at £5.80 are very economic. They are vacuum formed plastic and have worked really well for me. You have to make ekes to make it really cheap. One tip if you use these - put a bit of wood on top of the filter to press it down when a crown board is on otherwise the pushing of all those bees trying to get at the dregs of sugar lifts it up and they can end up trapped in the roof space.

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[Brian D. Bray]

For the purposes of using a baggy as a feeder--I believe the smaller the slits the better.  If you fill the bag 3/4 full then lay it on its side there is an air bubble--cut you slits to let the air escape and leave it that way.

[Michael Bush]

>the slits go on the top

Yes.

>how big should you make them to prevent spillage?

I make just two or three of them an inch long or so (2.5 cm).