Flow Hive Classic entrance height?

Good morning,

Entering our first winter (New England, USA) with our flow hives and want to reduce the entrances. Does anyone know the height of the entrance on a Classic (original)?

Thank You

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There have been a lot of posts about this but I can’t find the actual dimensions - I am not sure that just tucking a little bit of grass into the opening isn’t just as good of a solution. That way the bees can open it up on their own if they want to.

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Searched every word combo I could think of. Figured I wouldn’t have been the first to ask this. I really like that idea of something the bees can manipulate too.

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Mine is 11mm at the outside and 9mm at the inside edge. :blush:

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Either stuff some grass in the entrance or tack a piece of wood over the entrance to reduce it. It does not have to be a work of art, just close the entrance down.

Cheers
Rob.

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Ah but it does if you are as OCD as I am… :crazy_face:

Maybe you need a neater piece of wood than the rest of us then Dawn :joy:

And matching tacks…

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I started out with a stack of paint stir-sticks snapped off to the right length & jammed into the entrance. Turns out I’ve been avoiding using my Flow bottom board due to needing this hack plus deciding to move away from the screen-and-core flute system. Another factor is when you have several hives and can’t predict which one will gear up for Flow super placement, the bottom board type becomes arbitrary and you just shim up the front to create the proper angle when it’s time to harvest.

Grass will work, but don’t forget to also rig a mouse guard (traditional ones won’t work because of the slope) or you’ll hand the little buggers a hunk of bedding along with the cozy hideaway your hive will become if they can get in!

Companies that sell traditional Lang equipment here always give you a free entrance reducer with your purchase of a bottom board. These fit nicely and have different notches for various configurations. After advice from @JeffH I now use a 5” or so segment of these, placed in the center of the entrance to create two openings on either end, to accommodate the bees’ HVAC efforts. For winter I plug each side with a piece of rigid foam insulation leaving one bee-sized hole on either end. Keeps mice and big drafts out, easy to pop out in spring.

A lot of detail about a small space :smile: - just wanted to give some context for what I’d advise: make a properly fitted 5” piece of wood for your Flow hive, leave it in the center of the entrance all year round, adding sturdy but removable side plugs for winter :+1:

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