OK, this will probably be obvious as soon as you read it but I am definitely a new-bee. I have the Flow Hive Complete and I have just finished the second coat of tung oil and I am preparing to install my bees next week. I did not receive an entrance reducer with the complete hive so I purchased one but I am not sure where to put it. (DO NOT tell me “at the entrance” I am not THAT new.) If I put the reducer under the edge of the hive body there is a gap on both sides of the hive box since the reducer seems to sit too high. I cannot place it in front of the opening since there is already a lip there and the reducer does not fit. Can someone show me a picture of where they put their reducer, please?
Chipper ! Here’s a entrance reducer in my cedar hive entrance. 
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I hope this helps you ! Good luck ! Gerald.
I’ve made about 12 extras … And i make them a little oversized so I can fit them tight n perfect to each of my four hives.
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Hi Gerald
Nice reducer you have made, I would like to copy if that is ok. As I still don’t have my cedar Flow Hive yet, to pass away time I like to make things in preperation. Each day working on my prep is a day closer to receiving my hive. Are you able to give me all your exact measurements of the reducer (OK in old fashion imperial - I can convert to the newer system). If I can get to work on this, this will kill another day, timewise in waiting if you know what I mean.
Thanking you in advance.
Max
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@Schnucki - unfortunately Gerald’s hive entrance has different dimensions from the Flow hive. He has a standard Bee Thinking SBB, which has a taller entrance than the Flow hive. I think @Bobby_Thanepohn made an entrance reducer from the comb guide strips which came with the hive. That has made me consider making one from cedar shims, which are readily available from Home Depot (DIY store) in the US. Either way, I will go out and get some measurements from my flow hive later today.
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Thank you SOOO much for your efforts Dawn. Any suggestion on the opening size would be greatly appreciated as well as a I am a complete newbee. With a backyard full of chickens, yes, we do get the occasional mouse or should I say mouses and I don’t want them in my hive, having them in my Chook Mahal is bad enough.
I will source some nice hardwood timber Down Under, most likely some old timber fence material. This is what I used to made my hive stand from and it turned out a ‘bloody ripper’.
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@valli made an entrance reducer to fit a Flow hive here - Entrance reducer and so did @Bobby_Thanepohn - Made an entrance reducer
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Hi, The reducer you purchased may need some whittling on it. The angled bottom board of the complete flow hive means that a standard reducer won’t fit well. There wasn’t a reducer included in the flow hive because it’s a part not everyone uses. And there are so many types depending on climate and preference.
I know that beethinking, the producers of the cedar hive made in Oregon for Flow, is going to produce a reducer that fits for Flow to offer for sale.
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Hi Max,
@Schnucki I went out and stuffed some shims into my Flow hive entrance. It is 12mm high and 325mm wide. The Brood box wall is 22mm thick. So I would make a reducer that was 12mm high x ~20mm thick and 325mm long. The bee entrance should be 8-9mm high - big enough for bees and too small for mice. I would probably make a selection of entrances - 5cm, 8cm and 10 cm wide.
Hope that helps! 
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Don’t over think a reducer. Like most hings to do with hives they don’t have to be works of art. A bit of wood that fits your entrance and is shorter than the width works well. I keep a supply of bit of different lengths so I can vary the opening.
Cheers
Rob.
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Thank you all for your prompt replies and photos. Greatly appreciated. That is exactly how I thought it was supposed to fit and wondered why mine did not fit the way I expected. As Sara said, I will be doing some whittling to get it down to the right height.
But this is the Flow Forum! We LOVE overthinking things!!! 
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There is an interesting short article here, which explains a bit more, and shows convincingly why you shouldn’t paint a reducer. Unless you think that bees like to eat paint…
One of my Dad’s hives has a reducer that is a hank o’ rope. Leftover dog chew toy that was in his pocket. He misplaced the reducer so he stuffed the rope in place. By the time he found the missing piece the bees had arranged things to their liking and cemented it all in place. Been there for years now. …
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Yah ! I’m doing little jobs here too waiting for my three Nuc’s to arrive about third week of April if we are lucky. The west coast winter n early Spring has set Nuc development back a couple weeks here.
Today I assembled a stack of frames with wire reinforced wax for my cedar hive brood boxes.
Yeah, I’ll be doing the same when I get itchy feet and my lovely wife let’s me spend more time on my hive which I haven’t even got yet, just some accessories to pass away time. I hope that she catches the same bug which I have caught big time, bigger than any fish that I have ever caught in my life time, including the ones that got away. There is hope for her yet.
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Hey Schnucki,
I love Aussie hard wood. You should find some old jarrah and build a hive box out of it. I tried it with some leftover kwila decking timber recently and it came out beaut! And the bees are quite at home. Looking forward to putting my flow hive on top of that come the spring…
Cheers, Paul
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My wife taught me bee keeping and now I’m more addicted than her… but I have the same problem with getting down to the shed to tinker on parts! Think I might sneak down now and resume work on the latest hive creation… wish me luck that I go unnoticed…
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our flow hive came with a reducer that also doesn’t fit! Hubby is customizing one now! I guess they didn’t try it before they sent it out.
We don’t sell the Flow Hive with an entrance reducer at this stage. Where did you buy your hive from?
I’m wondering if you have accidently bought a fake.