Author Topic: Boardman Feeders (Read 15879 times)

LazyBkpr · « **on:** February 04, 2014, 05:28:11 pm »

I, like most people who have used them, have come to dislike the disadvantages they present.
I built a couple last year trying to make at least two of those disadvantages disappear. They seemed to work well, so today, for lack of anything better to do, I built a few more.

Now, before you start yelling that I will have a massive robbery in progress, hush and pay attention, besides, Blue is nearby, he can handle the situation!!

First, why do Boardman feeders cause robbing?
The situation can be compared to tossing a single freshly cooked Prime rib in the middle of twenty starving men. Theres about to be a mess!
Now, feed those men well for several weeks, then toss that prime rib on the floor among them... they are likely to ignore it.

Use a boardman at the wrong time, when there is not much for forage, and the bees will come from far and wide to get at that syrup. So what to do?
I do two things. I put an entrance reducer in, and then I put on a robber screen in a loop over the reduced entrance. No bee can fly directly into the hive, and the entrance is small enough for the occupying bees to defend... In the pic I dont have the screen on, they are all at the house, but this is how I reduce the entrance;

The entrance is AWAY from the feeder. Making it a bit more difficult to get to. In so doing, even with last years nasty 4 months of 0 rain the bees never tried to rob one another. I will be finding out this year if it will work on Nuc's as well.

Next problem, is that when the sun warms up the jar, they tend to leak all over the place. I have pulled a jar, to find the feeder packed SOLID with dead sticky bees, and the syrup dribbling into the hive from the feeder... And of course the entrance was reduced, so there was a bit of a puddle around the entrance reducer...

So to fix that, this feeder is level with the bottom board. Even if it leaks, the syrup will not run into the hive and get trapped behind the reducer and cause a big sticky mess. Next, there is more room inside of this feeder. Less crowding, and as the feeder opening is 3/4" the same as the hive opening, the bees can get in and out easier, no pushing shoving, fighting or stinging. There are no turns or edges to block the entrance, it is wide upen to the hive. I also made it a bit deeper so that the 2 quart jars will go on it with a little room to spare..

SO.. robbing, and drowning seem to be going well.. what else don't you like about a Boardman? What needs to be done to fix it?
Scott

Woody Roberts · « **Reply #1 on:** February 04, 2014, 05:52:12 pm »

I block my entrances just like your pic and I don't have any problems. But like you said I don't use these in a dearth. I use them on just started hives that don't have a workforce yet. If I feed in a dearth I use the Baggie method with an empty super over it.

Slowmodem · « **Reply #2 on:** February 04, 2014, 07:10:24 pm »

Quote from: LazyBkpr on February 04, 2014, 05:28:11 pm

SO.. robbing, and drowning seem to be going well.. what else don't you like about a Boardman? What needs to be done to fix it?

You can also place those feeders on top of the inner cover and put an empty super around it with the telescoping cover on top.

riverbee · « **Reply #3 on:** February 04, 2014, 07:14:39 pm »

scott, BEAUTIFUL CRAFTSMANSHIP!

with that said, i will never use a boardman feeder for sugar syrup on the front of a hive, i only use them for water. my HO, that even with the improvements you have carefully thought out and redesigned in yours, bees have a sense of smell, and the feeder on the front of the hive is still going to get mobbed, as well as the reduced entrance, at some point in time. i personally don't want to take the risk when some of my hives are a distance away and can't be monitored, so i like to use something on top for feed, covered by another box; and as slow pointed out you can use these as he suggested, although i use a different method.

LazyBkpr · « **Reply #4 on:** February 04, 2014, 07:24:45 pm »

so far they havent gotten mobbed any more than a feeder in the top of the hive, and I am sure bees can smell that too, but this year will put a few more to the test so we can find out. A LOT of nuc's coming and a few getting made, and I can only open feed until the supers in the area go on...

Finally Home · « **Reply #5 on:** February 04, 2014, 07:47:55 pm »

Nice work Sir

I made me a bunch of inner covers with a 2 3/4" hole for the jar to fit. Plenty of medium box's to cover like RB stated. If I had your talents I'd make a nice feeder with a restroom added on

Perry · « **Reply #6 on:** February 04, 2014, 08:30:15 pm »

When I first started keeping bees, it was considered a matter of course that you would feed Terramycin (or Oxytet), and Fumagillan mixed in with your syrup. These were known to break down quickly under sunlight so boardmans were never recommended.
I just never liked them so never bought any. Just a personal thing I guess. Once you have more than a few hives, it's not efficient anyways, don't hold enough.

Jen · « **Reply #7 on:** February 10, 2014, 07:38:42 pm »

Hubby and a friend stopped into Dadant on the way home from a recent trip. Friend bought a boardman feeder. He has a single deep hive. He saw MegaBee on my shopping list that I sent with hubby. He wants to feed the MB syrup thru the boardman until it's time to switch to sugar syrup.

What are the pros and cons of this idea?

And what are the pros and cons of a boardman feeder?

Jen · « **Reply #8 on:** February 10, 2014, 11:27:18 pm »

Any advice on my last post?

keeperofthebees · « **Reply #9 on:** February 10, 2014, 11:40:24 pm »

Quote from: Jen on February 10, 2014, 11:27:18 pm

Any advice on my last post?

arrrrrrrrrrrr Beemax styro hive top feeder, take off the plexiglass on the inside.

Jen · « **Reply #10 on:** February 10, 2014, 11:45:59 pm »

what?

keeperofthebees · « **Reply #11 on:** February 10, 2014, 11:48:13 pm »

Quote from: Jen on February 10, 2014, 11:45:59 pm

what?

Go to the dadant and sons website and look up hive top feeder. 7 down on the page you'll see it. I love them.

Jen · « **Reply #12 on:** February 10, 2014, 11:50:08 pm »

But Keeper- I didn't ask about another type of feeder hon. My question was the pros and cons of the Boardman

keeperofthebees · « **Reply #13 on:** February 10, 2014, 11:53:26 pm »

Quote from: Jen on February 10, 2014, 11:50:08 pm

But Keeper- I didn't ask about another type of feeder hon. My question was the pros and cons of the Boardman

MB is protein supplement/soybean flour based. When you mix it, it's thick and pasty...mix it thin so it's flowable then it will seperate and syrup will be at bottom, bees will drink syrup, and you'll have sticky glop that doesn't come out of pin sized holes in the feeder jar of the boardman feeder. Or in the long run it will goop up/the flour and goo the holes shut. Boardman has a metal or plastic jar lid..full of tiny pin holes. Ask me how I know

That's why I suggested using megabee in beemax.

To test this...take the boardman jar into the kitchen and pretend wheat flour is soy flour/megabee...mix it up and shake the jar for awhile and watch/notice the holes plug up. Wet wheat flour is sticky so is megabee-soybean flour. At worst, you have a almost there starter for a batch of bread with the wheat flour test.

Jen · « **Reply #14 on:** February 11, 2014, 01:07:31 am »

Thanks Keeper- I'm trying to get the advice of these forum posters re: boardmans so I can print and give it to our friend. Would like for him to have the pros and cons to encourage him to feed internally.

Perry · « **Reply #15 on:** February 11, 2014, 07:07:06 am »

Boardman feeders:

Pros
- relatively cheap
- easy to see if empty
- easy to refill without disturbing interior of hive

Cons
- Can easily set off robbing behaviour during a dearth (sometimes even during a flow)
- If using any meds in syrup, sunlight quickly breaks it down
- doesn't hold a lot of syrup

iddee · « **Reply #16 on:** February 11, 2014, 07:44:58 am »

Jen, boardmans can be great at times, and totally deadly to a hive at other times. Add that to the fact that there are more sides taken on the boardman subject than on the excluder subject, and you will never get a definitive answer to your question.

Boardmans work well for feeding sugar water, or just water in warmer times. They also are accessible to other bees, and can cause robbing during a dearth. Because of the openness of the feed, and proximity to the hive being fed, they need to be watched closely.

LazyBkpr · « **Reply #17 on:** February 11, 2014, 07:54:15 am »

Where you have only one hive,and plan for a grand total of two.. You should be able to get along with them splendidly... depending on how many hives you have within a few miles of your place.

Using a boardman, or any inverted jar will pose a problem when using protien IF you dont have it completely dissolved. It will settle and plug the holes and OR cause the jar to drip.. so make sure what you put in it doesn't have any chunks left floating about.
If your going to use an entrance feeder, especially the commercial type that fits ABOVE the bottom board, then drill a couple small holes in the back of the feeder furthest from the entrance the bees use. That way, when barometric pressure and temps change, the syrup that leaks will leak out the back of the feeder rather than into your hive!

http://outyard.weebly.com/feeding.html

Pros
- relatively cheap check
- easy to see if empty check
- easy to refill without disturbing interior of hive check

Cons
- Can easily set off robbing behaviour during a dearth (sometimes even during a flow)
Agreed! so take the necessary steps to insure it doesnt happen if your going to use them!

- If using any meds in syrup, sunlight quickly breaks it down
Can't argue with that. One of the bee supply houses offers a black plastic 1 gallon jug to combat this problem..

- doesn't hold a lot of syrup
Agreed! The quart mason jars need refilled about every other morning. The two quart are better, last four to five
days on a new hive, and anything larger gets too heavy hanging out of the entrance when filled.

Perry · « **Reply #18 on:** February 11, 2014, 08:26:34 am »

Lazy, we agreed on everything? Where do I send the cheque?

Keep up the good work.

lazy shooter · « **Reply #19 on:** February 11, 2014, 09:21:38 am »

I've never experienced robbing using a board man, but I don't think there is a large population of bees around my apiaries. The boardman does not drown bees for me. Everything else I have used drowns lots of bees. BUT, I hate feeding period. Feeding may be my undoing for beekeeping. I have never found a fool proof way to feed.