Early Fall - What is appropriate for Entrance Count and Size

[Chip Hankley]

I was doing some fall / winter prep yesterday, and one of the things I did was reduce my entrances a bit:

• Full Entrance at Bottom (i.e. the bottom board opening is totally open)
• One upper opening (1" hole bored in hive body)

I closed off the other hive body entrances by covering them with hardware cloth.  I notice today that they don't seem to like this (maybe?).  There are a lot of bees "trying to get in" at some of the openings covered with hardware cloth.

I decided to do this (entrance reduction) because they seem a little low on food (I've started feeding), and I generally sense that the potential for robbing is high.

Is there such a thing as "too much reduction" at this time of year?  Thanks!

[Paul Zelenski]

Closing entrances with hardware cloth is not a great idea imho. The bees don't understand and will try to get in/out through it. If you want them closed, I use duct tape. Others use corks. If you are worried about robbing, though you will definitely need to shrink the bottom entrance. Defending the whole bottom will be a tall order. You also want to start thinking about preventing mice from entering. Personally I have my bottom entrances on the smallest reduction. I have most of the holes open on the boxes, but closed some where robbing is an issue. Others I reduced by closing them half way with duct tape. Personally once winter is here and robbing is no longer a concern, I will open all the entrances on the hive bodies but leave the bottom entrance small. 

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[Paul Zelenski]

PS, you ask if there is such a thing as too much reduction. Yes, if you close them up too much it will be hard for them to regulate the temp and to get the moisture out while trying to dry the syrup you're feeding. That being said, if you are seeing robbing, smaller entrances are less destructive than robbing. It's a balancing act depending on your situation. I do like screened bottom boards because they allow for a lot of ventilation with very little actual openings. 

On Sep 28, 2015, at 12:08 PM, Chip Hankley <chip.h...@gmail.com> wrote:

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