Hi, I'm waiting to get my very first nuc - I have read that when I transfer them to the hive I should feed them initially - I've looked at different feeders but unsure which to have, I quite like to idea of the frame feeder but this is only sufficient for the spring feeding - has anybody got any advice on which is the best feeder to use. Many thanks
Hi Lesley and welcome to the forum.
The words “best” and beekeeping kit are always guaranteed to get several different responses usually with the caveat “it depends” thrown in there!
I have used and made a few different feeders. The one I use most often is the plastic so called English feeder. It is relatively inexpensive, easy to clean and store holds a decent amount of syrup but is still usable with less. It can be used without the central cup cover in place for the bees to clean up all your cappings wax after extraction giving them a bit of feed and ensuring you have lovely clean flakes of wax to use.
A cheap small feeder seems okay with a single hive in the garden but becomes infuriating when you may have several and at some distance away from home and too-ing and fro-ing to refill. Like smokers, buy bigger, buy once...
Is your hive already set up? Sounds exciting times