Syrup Feeder 1st Iteration
Boardmanfeeder with sugar syrup, placed in a tub filled with water and rocks. Bees can land on rocks and get water and the water keeps the fire ants out.
How I Feed Feral Bees
Crude Feeder for Protein Powder
This is how it all started; feeble attempts. The rock keeps the paper plate from blowing and the bees are enjoying the protein powder. You can see an empty feeder in the background. These are sitting on the back of a truck. I really did just throw this stuff out and see what would happen.
2nd Gen Feeder and 2nd Gen Waterer
The second gen feeder just let the syrup pour out on the plastic - that was a fail! The water worked GREAT. It has a small solar powered fountain pump that slowly bubbles the water on top of the bucket lid and the rocks give the bees somewhere to land. The top is perforated to allow the water to drip back through.
Feeding Station
I made feeding stations near the traps to attract bees to the area. Feeding them also makes them behave as though spring and a nectar flow has started. They begin brooding up and will swarm earlier in the season. So I feed, feed, feed - to get them to swarm so I can catch the swarms. The barrel keeps rain out of the feeders!!!
2nd Generation Waterer
Solar powered tiny fountain pump pulls water up through the lid and bubbles it onto the rocks. The water drips back through holes in the lid. The bees love it and it does not get mosquitoes.
Final Waterer
This waterer is the reservoir for a disappearing fountain. The seams between the two sides of the top had to be sealed because the water ran through too fast. I added the tube to refill with water so it was not so slow. On the little bucket waterers, you had to pour the water in and wait for it to seep through the holes in the top which was slow. This one has two pumps so water is dispersed on both sides. This actually ended up with little plants growing in it. My theory is that getting all resources as close to the hive as possible means bees spend less energy when they need resources.
Third Generation Feeder - Net is to Prevent Drowning
I have one further change to the feeder but this one was pretty successful. I melted 100 holes in the lid of the bucket with a wire attached to the tip of a soldering gun.
2nd Iteration of Protein Feeder
I am still using these PVC pipe feeders. They can be set on a surface or hung up. They really don't hang particularly well because they blow and dump out the powder. So hang close to the tree and secure to the trunk of the tree. I love bungee cords and ratchett straps. However, the ants will find them soon if you attach to a tree.
Feeding Trailer
Third generation feeder in use. So much easier to just switch out buckets.