I’m located in central South Carolina, United States. I have the vent on the rear of my flow hive 2+ set to the “closed” position currently. Its getting hotter here now. Should I put the vent in the “open” position or just leave it in the closed position all the time? I have read different opinions on this. Some say leave it closed so the bees only have the front entrance opening and can manage heating and cooling the hive better with just the entrance. I’m not currently using an entrance reducer and use the bottom yellow plastic tray all the time also. Thanks!
Hi & welcome to the forum. I also suggest leaving the rear vent closed at all times, so that the bees can regulate the hive temp via the entrance only. My reference for this strategy is in the must watch video on youtube, “City of Bees”. Pay particular attention to the part where they say that the bees also air condition the hive. It’s especially interesting to see how bees draw air in on one side, and out on the other. Therefore with that in mind, it’s prudent to place an entrance reducer in the middle of the entrance, leaving 2 small entrances in place, one each side.
A well respected American beekeeper/researcher came up with what I recall the perfect entrance opening size of 15 sq.cm. Therefore 7.5 sq.cm. on each side would be ideal. That would be 3"x3/8".
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Thanks! I have left the rear vent “closed”
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I am with @JeffH. Even if it is hot, leave the vent closed. Bees cool and heat the hive to their liking by fanning, evaporating water and using wing muscle heat. If you give them a drafty hive, it is like having all of the windows open on a house in a hot climate, when the house has air-conditioning. Not very helpful! 
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Thanks! This all makes sense.
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