I made an entrance reducer for my Flow Hive using starter strips (the small wood pieces that attach to the frame to help guide comb) that came with the Flow. They are all slightly different in size so they fit my flow entrance perfectly!
I won’t be using all frames since my NUCs come with five frames already… I just cut the pieces to size using a simple box cutter and glued them on a small piece of balsa (you could use just any other material) which locks nicely into place once I put the brood box on top…
Applied tung oil and since the starter strips are made of redwood, they match perfectly the rest of the hive.
Voila!
I noticed this morning that the bees have chewed a second hole in my packing paper reducer about 5" away from the original hole that I left them. It is only big enough for one bee to pass right now, but I will be interested to see if it grows.
Just my input but the area around my hive gets to an ambient 110+ regularly right now as it is in direct sun. I have tried an experiment with using packing paper in the entrance that they can easily chew out to whatever size they want. They have about a 2-3" space on the left side of the entrance and they chewed open a very small hole about dead center in the entrance that is only large enough for two bees wide. I have also left the hole in the inner cover open, and they seem perfectly happy
Neat to see it in service. It’s weird but each of my hives are just a little different so I make general reducers then check for exact measurements. Then I cut, trim n sand to make the final tight fit. It’s nice having a small working woodshop. Wish I’d have built it years ago. I’d have really become skilled at wood n wood crafting. I slowly trying to remember how my dad did stuff. He was gone before I really took up an interest out of need because he wasn’t around to do the projects for me !
How did you come up with that being the dimensions you use. I’m sure you have used other sizes on your journey … When I was a kid we ran them wide open … Problem more out of ignorance than knowledge that lead us to bee wisdom. Mine presently are at 1" wide x 3/8" high. My other options on the bars I made for my personal use is 4" x 3/8" or remove totally. But you say, at least for you its 1 1/2" x appr 3/8". Like to here your rational that lead you to this. Thankz
1 1/2" to 2" square is what swarms prefer for a home and anything over that they don’t prefer. Mine is somewhat smaller I suppose but traffic is usually walking in and out and that seems to be very defensible.
I’m kind of confused. Are you saying that bee swarms prefer 1.5 - 2.0 sq. inches for a home? What do you mean when you say the word ‘square’? Your entrances only range between .375 & .5625 sq.ins. I think my observation hive entrance is bigger than that.
They prefer 1.5-2 sq inches for an entrance. Yes, mine are smaller, but I think they manage a linear one better as far as traffic and guarding. Wax moths seem to be able to get in when the entrance is taller than the guard bees can reach. I don’t have enough small hive beetles for an observation, but my guess is that would be similar.
My observation hive is basically probably only 2 deep frames strong. I just went out & checked, the entrance is .5 of a sq.in. I just could not imagine having an entrance that small for a large colony during normal working conditions (outside of winter).
My normal entrances are between 3 & 7 sq.ins. I never reduce them during our sub-tropical winters.
