Mason
House Bee
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Location: Marietta, GA
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« on: July 27, 2009, 02:27:49 PM » |
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Typical rookie here,
I just now noticed that one of my hives has a larger or "taller" entrance slot than the other. The hives are different and each came from a different supplier. It might be I have one bottom board upside down.
How tall should the entrance opening be?
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Former beekeeper until March....maybe next year...RIP
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Hethen57
House Bee
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Location: Coeur d'Alene, Idaho
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« Reply #1 on: July 27, 2009, 02:57:01 PM » |
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Mine are all supposed to be 3/4", give or take a 1/16". I've had sand a couple of my blocks to get them to fit because they were a little tight.
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-Mike
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Paraplegic Racehorse
House Bee
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Location: Richland, Benton County, Washington State
Kilted beekeepers unite!
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« Reply #2 on: July 27, 2009, 07:31:34 PM » |
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Most of the 19th century literature recommends MUCH smaller openings than we currently use - in most cases a 1"-2" hole. Most "feral" hives will seek cavities with pretty small entrances, too.
My Warre hives seem to have no more difficulty using their 1/2" x 4" openings than the full-width x 5/8" openings of my Langstroth hives.
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I'm Paraplegic Racehorse. Member in good standing: International Discordance of Kilted Apiarists, Local #994 The World Beehive Project - I endeavor to build at least one of every beehive in common use today and document the entire process. |
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SlickMick
Field Bee
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Location: Brisbane, Australia
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« Reply #3 on: July 27, 2009, 11:14:02 PM » |
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Being in SHB territory I keep my entrances as small as the hive allows me to. 3/8" high by what ever can be guarded by the bees.. a single deep is at the moment about 7-8" long
Mick
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On the outer Barcoo where the churches are few, And men of religion are scanty, On a road never cross'd 'cept by folk that are lost, One Michael Magee had a shanty. Now this Mike was the dad of a ten-year-old lad, Plump, healthy, and stoutly conditioned; He was strong as the best, but poor Mike had no rest For the youngster had never been christened, A BUSH CHRISTENING - A.B. "Banjo" Paterson http://www.middlemiss.org/lit/authors/patersonab/poetry/christen.html |
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BoBn
House Bee
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Location: USA
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« Reply #4 on: July 28, 2009, 10:51:47 AM » |
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Mine are all 3/8". It works well for me. I also notice that I never get much debris build up in the winter as I used to have with 3/4". The bees keep it cleaned out.
In the summer, I slide a super above the hive bodies back about 3/8" for an additional entrance when needed.
In the winter, I fasten a reducing block to the bottom so that the bottom entrance is about 3/4" wide, and keep a 3/4" round hole near the top of the hive open.
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"Millions of innocent men, women, and children, since the introduction of Christianity, have been burnt, tortured, fined, and imprisoned; yet we have not advanced one inch toward uniformity. What has been the effect of coercion? To make one-half the world fools and the other half hypocrites."
--Thomas Jefferson
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Michael Bush
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« Reply #5 on: July 30, 2009, 09:07:39 AM » |
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Between 1/4" and 3/4"
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charles
House Bee
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Location: Green Cove Springs, Florida
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« Reply #6 on: July 30, 2009, 09:11:49 AM » |
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about 3/8"
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4 hives
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Carol
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Location: Central Florida
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« Reply #7 on: April 30, 2013, 02:06:22 PM » |
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I am in Central FL....it's starting to get warm. I have my hive in a spot that is shaded late afternoon, which I hope will help. My entrance is 3/8" and I was thinking of making it larger until I found this post. This is a package that was installed about 49 days ago, 3.13.13. There are a lot of bees at the entrance...cleaning and fanning. I don't see any dropped pollen but there is definately a traffic jam. Do you leave yours 3/8" all year round?
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Bush_84
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Location: Brainerd, MN
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« Reply #8 on: May 01, 2013, 02:30:50 PM » |
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I am in Central FL....it's starting to get warm. I have my hive in a spot that is shaded late afternoon, which I hope will help. My entrance is 3/8" and I was thinking of making it larger until I found this post. This is a package that was installed about 49 days ago, 3.13.13. There are a lot of bees at the entrance...cleaning and fanning. I don't see any dropped pollen but there is definately a traffic jam. Do you leave yours 3/8" all year round?
FYI we are talking height and not length. I suspect you would need to open your entrance reducer a bit, not increase the height of your entrance. My entrances are 3/8" tall. |
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