There has been alot of prep work for my upcoming honey bees, should be getting them next spring. Until then I have been building out what's needed for them. Today I would like to share how I built sugar water feeders for the bees.
During certain times of the year, there is a shortage of nectar. Usually in the early spring, so I plan to feed my bees sugar water to get them through the hard times. This was recommended by the bee keepers I am buying my bees from.
By putting holes in near the top of these food safe five gallon containers and then flipping them over. The sugar water will pool in little divots molded into the bucket. I start off by marking where I will be drilling using an icepick.
I find my points of where I want to drill by using a flashlight shining it through the bucket. I add a hole in each of the devided areas.
It may be hard to see but I drilled holes into the bucket carefully only to go through the first layer. Though even if I messed up I could fix it with a hot glue gun.
As I drill the holes I clear out the debris and make sure it drilled the holes okay. Using a 7/64 drill bit it's a pretty small hole.
Using some electrical tape I made a guide to help me not drill too far. It worked quite well as not a single hole got over drilled.
Twist top lids were added so I can open up easily, I was worried if I use a snap top lid it's going to deform eventually and water would leak.
It's a two part product. First the ring snaps on and then a threaded top with gasket is put on.
After building one of these I tried it out. And noticed I have to tighten the twist top lids alot to keep them water tight.
The five gallon buckets and twist top lids are branded as Leaktite so hoping they hold up to their name.
With the buckets flipped over the small holes I drilled can be seen. The sugar water will fill up in those little pockets and the vacuum from the pressure will stop it from just leaking out. Its important to drill the holes a third of the way down so the vacuum pressure keeps the water inside. The bees will land on these pockets and drink from it.
That's it, they are ready to go. Looking forward to seeing bees just covering these buckets. And hoping with three of them it should be enough sugar water for two hives for at least a week. We shall see how it plays out in real life but that is the plan. With fifteen gallons of combined water I hope it's enough for them.