Feeder Failure

Last time I visited the bees, I put my Mann Lake feeder on the Thistle hive and the Brushy Mountain feeder on the Mint hive. I had the Mann Lake feeder on my hive last year and really liked it, I only bought the new one from Brushy Mountain because I needed another feeder and I was getting all of my other supplies from them. Here are my findings (result - I'm buying another Mann Lake Feeder):


Mann Lake Hive Top Feeder:
+ Comes with a super already around it so it stacks easily onto the hive
+ Has a large capacity (4 gallons)
+ The mesh in the middle is removable (if you ever need to clean it)
- There is a lot of open space in the middle of the feeder for the bees to create burr comb in.

Brushy Mountain Plastic Hive Top Feeder:
+ No space for the bees to create burr comb in
- Doesn't come with a super (adding one is supposed to create a better seal so bees don't come in the top and drown).
- Harder to pick up when there is still sugar syrup in the feeder (because the super isn't attached)
- The places where the bees access the sugar cannot be removed, they aren;t mesh so you can't see in.
- If the bees do manage to find their way into the reservoir (despite using a super to create a better seal) you end up with a sea of dead bees: