Top Entrance on flow hive

Flow Hive
1

My new flow hive top board does not have a notch for an entrance. Is it supposed to have one? I am new to this game.

2

Nope. Your flowhive doesn’t come with a top entrance. Why would you want a top entrance?

3

Is it not necessary for ventilation?

4

Not at all. Bees are very good at directed fanning to create airflow around the hive in any direction they want. @JeffH has a very nice YouTube video of bees in his observation hive doing exactly this. They just line up in the same direction and push the air flow with their wing beats - very impressive! :wink:

6 Likes
5

Thanks for the information.

6
  1. For ventilation depending on your local climate
  2. So foragers don’t have to climb through the brood to reach the honey supers
  3. Pest management
  4. So the entrance doesn’t get blocked by dead bees, vegetation, snow, etc.

I’ve seen a lot of beekeepers use top entrances. You can have an exclusive top entrance or you can have both a bottom entrance and a top entrance. As with anything, there are pros and cons to each approach and what you end up doing is largely personal preference.