The Feeder Pail is placed upside down on the Inner Cover of the bee hive with the screen plug over the inner cover hole. The bees stick their tongues through the feeding screen and suck down the syrup.

For feeding a bee colony in the spring, use 10 pounds of sugar per pail. For fall feeding, use 12-13 pounds of sugar per pail. When using sugar syrup make sure the syrup is cooled before pouring into the pail.

On first use, check the screen plug for tightness, if it is too loose, wrap a piece of masking tape around it. Once the bees have used it once, there will be enough propolis around the edges to insure a tight fit.

Do not invert the feeder if the syrup is still warm. Warm syrup is too thin and will go through the screen without forming a vacuum. The feeder must be completely filled to the top in order to create a vacuum. The syrup should be at room temperature before inverting the pail. Also if you are feeding Fumiglin B, do not mix the Fumiglin B in the syrup until the syrup is at room temperature.

When inverting the pail, hold the plug with your finger momentarily to insure that the force of the inversion doesn't pop out the plug.

Once the pail is empty, you can either refill it without taking the top off by pouring the syrup through the hole for the plug. If you are through feeding, you can let the bees clean the inside of the pail by removing the plug.