Plastic feeding bag (pack 50)

01 · DO THEY NEED PIERCING?

Yes: two small pricks on top, once the bag is in place

You often read that they do not, that bees open the plastic themselves. Some colonies do; many do not, and whoever trusts that finds the bag untouched a week later. What people who use them well do is simple: lay the bag in place and make a couple of small pricks on the upper face, just enough for the feed to show so they find it. Small ones, not a slit: open it too far and the syrup dumps onto the frames.

02 · FILLING AND PLACING

Half a kilo to a kilo, and air inside if it is syrup

Fill with 0.5-1 kg of syrup or paste. With liquid syrup, leave at least 20 % air inside: the bee needs that cushion to be able to suck. Close with a simple knot or a tie, and lay the bag over the top bars, above the cluster — where the colony reaches it without breaking up. One bag per hive per application; remove it when empty or after 4-6 weeks.

03 · THE PLASTIC IS THIN

It has to be, so handle them with care

It is the recurring complaint from anyone who gets a torn one: they are thin bags, and that is not a fault — thick ones the bee could never pierce. What avoids the trouble is handling: do not overfill (leave slack to knot), carry them to the apiary in a tray or box rather than loose in the boot, and place them where they will not rub the edge of the crown board. And fill them on the day, not days ahead.

LIQUID SYRUP AND COLD

With liquid syrup and low temperatures, bees can fall into the feed and not get out. Use the bags with syrup in early autumn or mid-afternoon in spring, and for closed wintering — below 10 °C outside — fill them with fondant paste rather than liquid.

04 · BEFORE YOU BUY

At 20 × 50 cm they sit over the frames of Layens, Langstroth and Dadant without blocking movement. In a Layens, with the ventilation in the lid, pastes dry out sooner: close the bag more tightly and check more often. They arrive empty: the feed is yours to add.