Bees are a crucial part of the world’s food production, and keeping them can be a complex, interesting and rewarding hobby. Watching bees busily combing flowers and plants for pollen to convert to golden, symmetrical rows of wax-capped honey is a meditation on how wonderfully nature works. Although many beehives are self-sustaining and need little attention, cold winters or split hives sometimes mean supplementing the bees’ diet with sugar syrup. And for that, you’ll need a bee feeder.
A favorite of both amateur and experienced beekeepers alike, the Foxhound Bee Company Store Front Entrance Honey Bee Feeder is easy to use, affordable and one of the best bee feeders you can buy.
What to know before you buy a bee feeder
Because not every beekeeping kit comes with a bee feeder, here’s what you need to consider before purchasing it separately.
Outside vs. inside the hive
You’ll need to decide whether you want to feed your bees inside or outside of the hive. Each has its pros and cons.
Feeding outside the hive (either with a bee feeder or a large mesh-covered bucket on the ground near the hives) is easier. You can monitor the level of sugar water without opening the hive, which means it takes less time to check multiple hives.
But there are downsides to feeding outside the hive. Sugar water can encourage other insects or creatures to pay close attention to your hive. This could lead to thieving honey or jostling the bee boxes. If you feed bees from an open bucket on the ground, the possibility of drowning in the bucket is higher, too.
Feeding bees inside the hive has less of a chance of drowning, but it is more involved than simply filling a bucket (or an entrance-mounted bee feeder). If you have many hives or multiple bee yards, this can be very time-consuming.
Sugar syrup vs. pollen
While all beekeeping is personal and based on the type of bees and your geographic region, there are some general principles to follow when it comes to choosing between feeding sugar syrup and pollen.
Sugar syrup helps bees to prepare for overwintering in the fall and when food is scarce in early spring. A solid winter patty of sugar can also help provide food when bees are less active in the winter, but it’s not the same thing as feeding pollen.
A pollen patty is a dense, protein-rich block of food that is good to help stimulate brood raising. Feeding a pollen patty is appropriate when there are not ample amounts of available protein. This protects nurse bees from tapping into their body’s own stores of fat and protein (which weakens the bees).
Bee feeder features
Tool-free assembly
Even inside-hive bee feeding frames should snap together with little effort. Look for high-quality, sturdy materials with interlocking parts that fit your specific hive.
Easy to use
Many of the best bee feeders for outside the hive only require that you make sugar water, fill a Mason jar and screw them onto the feeder. Anything more complicated than this is unnecessary. Similarly, internal bee feeders simply replace one of the frames in your hives. They should drop in without any effort at all.
Safe
Poorly constructed bee feeders are hard for bees to access and can lead to drowning. The best bee feeders for inside and outside of the hive have safety features that make accessing food easy while keeping bees from falling into the water.
Bee feeder cost
Bee feeders are an affordable tool for beekeepers to help their bees stay fed and healthy. Expect to spend between $11-$25 for a bee feeder.
Bee feeder FAQ
Why do you use a bee feeder?
A. Beekeepers use a bee feeder for specific reasons. When food sources are scarce, bee feeders keep bees alive. This can occur during the colder months or in the early spring.
The other time that beekeepers use a bee feeder is to encourage bees to build honeycombs. A bee feeder kicks their storage-building instincts into high gear.
Most beekeepers use bee feeders to help their normally self-sustaining bees to survive a cold snap. They might also supplement with a bee feeder when a new colony is being established. If you receive a new package of bees, it’s important to feed them immediately, and a bee feeder can help.
How do you make food for bees?
A. There are two basic recipes for making sugar syrup for bees. The first promotes a colony that is just being established. Make sugar water in any amount using a 1-to-1 ratio of white cane sugar to water. For example, dissolve 1 cup of white cane sugar in 1 cup of water.
For overwintering bees where food is scarce, consider making a rich syrup by increasing the ratio to 2-to-1 sugar to water (2 cups of sugar to 1 cup of water). You may need to heat this mixture slightly to get the sugar to dissolve, but do not boil it. Allow the mixture to cool before putting it into bee feeders.
Whichever ratio you use, do not use brown sugar, molasses or any other substitute. White cane sugar is the easiest, most cost-effective and safest sugar to use.
Which bee feeder should I get?
Best of the best bee feeder
Foxhound Bee Company Store Front Entrance Honey Bee Feeder: available at Amazon
Our take: This bee feeder fits most small-mouth canning jars and is easy to attach to the entrance to the hive.
What we like: Add sugar syrup to the jar and easily attach the three-step platform. The steps are fitted into the hive entrance so that bees can easily access the food. The plastic parts are BPA-free. Four feeders are included.
What we dislike: Some users reported a leak that resulted in sweet drips to the ground that attracted ants.
Best bang for your buck bee feeder
Mann Lake Entrance Feeder: available at Amazon
Our take: This is an easy-to-install bee feeder for apiarists on a budget.
What we like: This entrance feeder is easy to use. Add a Mason jar and place it at the front entrance of the hive. It’s easy to clean and durable.
What we dislike: This is not designed for use during cold weather.
Honorable mention bee feeder
Little Giant Frame Feeder: available at Amazon
Our take: Choose this feeder when feeding outside the hive isn’t possible.
What we like: This plastic feeder holds three quarts of syrup and fits easily in the brood box in place of a frame. Bees access the feeder from the side to reduce the risk of drowning.
What we dislike: You need to remove the feeder to check syrup levels.
Suzannah Kolbeck is a writer for BestReviews. BestReviews is a product review company with a singular mission: to help simplify your purchasing decisions and save you time and money.
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