Entrance reducers are cheap to make or buy. They are $1.50 and our local bee supply. The bees will chew them to the shape they see fit over time.
Don’t get me started on screened bottom boards. If my house needed ventilation I don’t think I’d replace my floor with screen so I could look down and see outside lol.
I ordered an entrance reducer online from the same place that builds the flow hives as well as had someone buy me a local one. Both appear to be too tall/thick and don’t fit in the entrance. Why is that and what should I do about them? I was expecting them to fit and be standard for this style of hive.
If you know someone with an electric disc sander, you could get him/her to sand it down for you.
I can get this - so do i just cut it to the width and leave a 5cm entrance for them? sorry to be dense…
@Sallywags Sally are you using it for a Flow hive or a normal lang??
If you already have a flow there are starter strips for the Lang frames - 3 of those flat sides together are the height of the Flow entrance - I taped the 3 three together and made the length 5cm shorter than the gap and it serves well as a reducer.
The one form wood from B&Q you need to cut a notch in the wood one 1 1/2 cm wide and one 5cm wide on different sides, these notches only go 1/2 way down so the bees can just get in or you could make 2 on short by 2cm and one short by 5cm and then use the reducer you choose
Either the B&Q style
Or 3 strips of Flow Starter wood joined together and cut to size.
Does that make sense?
I think so! i am going to investigate later on… i need to add some feed to the hive so will do both things at the same time!
I feed my chickens mash 
My standard entrance reducer does not fit the Flow entrance. Just posting this as a observation in case another newbie runs into the same problem.
I use a piece of oversize sponge rubber, that works well.
I have used craft sticks (ice lolly sticks), glued together with PVA glue to the right height. That worked well until my friend shaped a strip of wood for me - 9mm on the hive inside and 11mm on the outside, it wedges tightly into the entrance and is perfect. 
