03/07/2026
Finally got around to doing something I've wanted to do for years. There are many different ways to open feed. Most of them are a challenge for the bees, and if not done correctly you usually kill a lot of bees, which is definitely not what you want to do! I always thought it would be cool to have a board with channels that allowed the girls more real estate to access the feed without drowning, as well as feeding more of them at once. Then I figured it would be pretty cool to have our logo in it so that you could see the logo composed of bees. So I built one!!!
I hand carved our logo into the middle of the board, and then Incorporated common design features from our labels (randomized honeycomb) with a router. Then I coated the entire board in Beeswax to seal it as well as aid in the attraction to the bees as they feed from it.
Our first feeding was a success in that they definitely utilized the channels while it had syrup in it. But it was a failure in that they drank it faster than it would fill and then congregated at the pool by the bucket, forcing each other down into the pool and drowning a lot of bees.🫤
So... I waxed screen over all the channels and the pool so that they cannot physically get in to the channel but can only feed from above it.
Second feeding was a wild success! The girls smoked a 5 gallon bucket and two and a half hours and I think I counted maybe eight dead bees when it was done, WAY better than any other open feeding ive done before 🤘😁
Always super cool to watch in person!
