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Thread: Apidea feeders

  1. #1
    Senior Member Mellifera Crofter's Avatar
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    Default Apidea feeders

    Hello all,

    For the first time, I bought a couple of two-tier Apideas with top feeders.

    I have two questions: each Apidea came with a white queen excluder with a couple of screws - but I can't see where it is supposed to fit!

    The second question is about the top feeder. There is no baffle to cover the little dam wall - so, how do you prevent the bees from drowning? Do you make your own baffles, or do you fill the feeder with twigs and bits of wood?
    Kitta

    IMG_5589.jpg

    PS: I think I've just now found the answer to my first question: I should pin it underneath the feeder to prevent the queen going up into the feeder. I still wonder about the baffle, though.

    49966660483_3612063bcf_c.jpg
    Last edited by Mellifera Crofter; 03-06-2020 at 03:55 PM.

  2. #2
    Senior Member fatshark's Avatar
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    Default

    I can't help you with the Apideas as I've never used them. I always used to stop my bees from drowning in mini-nucs by using fondant. It worked well and they drew comb perfectly well. It makes moving full mini-nucs, whether with bees or food or both, much easier.

  3. #3
    Senior Member Mellifera Crofter's Avatar
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    Default

    Thanks Fatshark. I've since emailed Jon for help, and he said the same: they draw out comb well with fondant. He doesn't use the top feeders - only the internal ones filled with fondant - but he does sometimes later fill that with syrup and bits of float like correx. I now have the top feeders, and made a little baffle for one. I'll see how it goes!
    Kitta

  4. #4
    Senior Member Mellifera Crofter's Avatar
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    Well, how it goes so far is that the bees totally ignored the top feeder. Jon said that’s what usually happens. Perhaps when, or if, there’s a larger colony using two boxes of Apidea, they might become interested. For now, I’ve removed the top feeder.

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