So . . . the hopper says it picks up items when energized.  The lever says it energizes.  Attaching a lever to a hopper, and flipping it, doesn't make the hopper work.  Connecting the hopper and lever with wire doesn't work because levers can't be placed on wires.  (Placing a lever adjacent to the end of the wire, and flipping it, also doesn't do anything.)

What am I missing here?

Lever energyze only in moment of switching. So it more pushbutton than lever.  I use clock to energyze the hopper. Setup it usually on 5 seconds.