No stress… whoever likes those metal reducers can use them to their heart’s content. I personally don’t for the reasons I gave, and it is good for readers to hear an alternative view.
The only good thing I see about them is the convenient ventilated gate. For reducing entrances I prefer other methods.
Out of curiosity, are you two guys cousins or something? You always defend each other and make me chuckle…
If you are referring to Jeff then no we are not related in any way. Till maybe 5 years ago we had never met nor heard of him. But after I did meet him and spent time chatting I have appreciated his wealth of knowledge and experience in bee keeping.
That I often agree with Jeff is that we live in a similar climate and with our mutual interest in bees, but in some ways we disagree but also prepared to exchange our ideas on subjects where we differ and that is a good thing. We also have been involved in bee keeping for about the same amount of time.
I guess I’m glad that you found it ammusing but that is not why we are on the forum, there are many on here that are asking for advice so we pass it on and if they accept it then that is ok.
Thanks for the jab Peter. Very classy…
No jab intended in any way what so ever. Just stating facts in answer to your question.
Cheers
I love chuckling as often as possible, and I truly enjoy other people’s humour too. I think humour is a sign of intelligence, and when directed at oneself, a sign of realism and humility. More chuckling, please! 
Yes the metal guards do have their advantages however there are other cheaper and easier around the house options but it is still an accessory never the less.
Hi cousin Peter, would you believe it’s less than 2 years we’ve known each other 
I can’t agree that those metal entrance reducers are any good. They are terrible. The time someone turned up with one to put bees into their hive, I thought “what’s this piece of junk”.
Seriously it was good & I’d say the best entrance closer I’ve ever seen. My bits of old sponge work well, but it doesn’t provide any ventilation for folks who have any distance to travel.
A bloke from Drillham picked up a colony from me this morning. His nuc box had a hole in the roof which I covered with fly wire. I think one of these metal entrance reducers would have been perfect for him with about an 8 hr drive home.
Someone else commented about us agreeing with each other recently. I had a chuckle over that at the time. What a crime - agreeing with each other. Remind me to disagree with you every now & then.
A little scrap of metal window screen, folded up to fit the opening, will allow for ventilation while making the entrance more defendable. Thank you, Fred Dunn for that tip.
Hi forum members, as the old saying goes “for every 2 beekeepers there are 3 ways to keep bees”. This adage has certainly been borne out by some of the recent posts! We ask that you try not to take disagreements in beekeeping too personally, as all colonies behave in a different way and each of you will learn through your own experiences what works best for you and your bees (with the exception being local regulations and requirements of course!) It also seems timely to remind everyone that negative personal comments towards another user, be it in disagreement, jest, or retaliation are likely to result in your comment being removed. Persistent negative engagement or targeted digs at other members may also result in your account being temporarily muted, as a last resort. For all of you contributing useful (or even not so useful!) tips here, and to those who come here with their questions, thank you for staying on topic and sharing your concerns and experiences, we appreciate it.
That is a great tip! @FrederickDunn is a treasure trove of great tips and advice. Thank you for sharing on the forum for the first time @Akovia - I have some metal flyscreen spare and will give it a test run myself.
I was guessing at about 5 years but will accept two, but it really feels like longer. Just checked and the two nucs I bought from you were in 2017 so can we split the difference with no argument. 
The metal entrance reducer I use isn’t necessary as Skeegley says, most of the time, but if you need to mow around the hives in my heat and humidity then I would love to have a better option. Wearing a bee suit which only makes the heat worse and pushing a mower for a couple of hours isn’t fun.
Your foam is a cheap and effective way of moving a hive a short distance but when a long distance is involved it is another matter again.
The day before yesterday I got 30mm and yesterday 30 again, WOW that is going to be a big help around here and the rain is very wide spread too over the East Coast. Even some water puddles in the creek at my back fence.
Cheers
Welcome to the forum. 
Has anyone used the Guardian Entrance Reducer? If so how did you modify it or the entrance to attach it? Did it work on hive beatles
I wonder why FH doesn’t simply add a simple reducer to the older versions of FH? Feeling slightly annoyed 
off to find a stick