A feeding station is a shared feeding place outside the hive, from which several colonies take at once.

Why it looks attractive

• One filling for the whole apiary
• No hives to open
• Fast with many colonies

Why it is nonetheless discouraged

At almost any apiary the objections outweigh the convenience.

• Robbing behaviour: Open feed provokes exactly the searching behaviour that leads to robbing; weak colonies are attacked afterwards
• Disease transmission: Bees from different colonies meet in one place — the fastest route for nosema, foulbrood and viruses
• Uneven distribution: Strong colonies take most; weak colonies, which needed the feed, get least
• Foreign bees: Colonies of other beekeepers in the area come too
• Wasps and hornets are attracted

Where it is used

With very large numbers of colonies in one place, and then deliberately accepting the drawbacks. Also where it is customary in a region and all beekeepers do the same.

The alternative

Feeding inside the hive resolves every objection listed:

• Each colony gets what it needs
• No contact between colonies
• No robbing and no wasps
• The quantity per colony is known and can be recorded

Feeding in the late afternoon and reducing entrances during the feeding period make it safe.

If you do it anyway

• Place it well away from the hives
• Do not use it during a dearth
• Provide a ladder against drowning
• Stop immediately at signs of robbing

The boundary

Do not feed with supers on — not via a station either.