# upper entrance



## tom j (Apr 3, 2009)

Thought I would try the upper entrance thing this year ,, got a hole saw , pulled out the drill ,, put a hole in each box ,, guess there working , the holes are plugged with bees coming and going ,, the big lower entrance ,, 2 or 3 bees every 5 min .. and the second funny thing is ,,, there's no bearding ,, even in upper 90 temps , last year there was a beard most any time it was in the 80's ,, every thing else is the same .. didn't think it would make such a big deference .. hive is top to bottom full of bees , no queen cells ,, brood pattern best I've ever had ( a mix from egg to capped ) , 6 frames brood top box ,, 4 frames both sides , 1 frame honey 1 side brood on the other side on bottom box ,, pulled 1 frame out to put in a weaker hive .
thought's ????


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## alleyyooper (Apr 22, 2005)

Hole saw!!!!! just how gbig of a hole saw?

I use a spade bit 3/4 inch size that way I can use a bit of dowel if I want to close it up.

Does work I know that. they like them in the honey supers too.

 Al


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## JRHILLS (Oct 27, 2010)

Here is a shot of my bees using a notch in the inner cover AND a 3/4" hole in a 2" high "shim" under the telescoping cover as multiple upper entrances. Top ventilation, in my experience, pretty much eliminates bearding.


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## ace admirer (Oct 5, 2005)

yeah...i made a "device" that adds an upper entrance with a little landing...it violates "bee space" but doesn't seem to cause much problems. i just add the entrance where ever i want in the existing colony.


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## tom j (Apr 3, 2009)

JRHILLS
I did put a spacer under the lid at times , but they hardly used it .. so I quit doing it .. may bee I didn't wait long enough so they found it .

Al 
I did a 1 inch hole .. I refuse to use a spade bit ,, last time I used one it went through the siding I was putting the hole in , what I didn't know was there was 2 2x4's behind it that had a 3/4 inch space between them the spade bit caught and stopped dead , the power drill spun around like a top , all most took me off the ladder . couldn't finish the job til the next day , the guy was not happy as weather had held me from working a week already .. so no spade bits around here ..


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## alleyyooper (Apr 22, 2005)

I have bought 1 inch dowel before.
A spade bit on a hive body is far different than useing it on a house.

 Al


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## tom j (Apr 3, 2009)

but the memory's are there ,, IT HURT !!!!


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## BjornBee (Jan 17, 2011)

I use "upper entrances" when I place supers on the hives as ventilationis needed due to the unnatural setting of an expanded manipulated colony usually getting way larger than they would of created themselves. Throw in the weak or low R-value design on hives, and I think the bees really benefit from upper entramces.

For the record, that is far different than the discussion of permenent year-round "top entrances" which goes against what bees favor and benefit from, especially the use of trapped heat in late winter/early spring brood rearing.

Summertime upper entrances....yes.

Year round top entrances....no.


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## tom j (Apr 3, 2009)

that was going to be the next thing I was going to ask about it being open in the winter ... I think mine will be closed up this winter ..


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## alleyyooper (Apr 22, 2005)

Tom for the most part the 3/4 inch holes in our hive bodies are left open all winter. Our upper entrances are all on the intercover rail, we just set the outer cover in place and slide it all the way back which does close it up some.

 Al


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## tom j (Apr 3, 2009)

if left open they would let moisture out .. would it cool the hive to much ????
that's what cross's my mind ( what little I have that's not cooked with this heat ) but I have been always told --- It's not cold that kills a hive it's starvation or moisture dripping on the bees ..

what to do ,,, what to do


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## alleyyooper (Apr 22, 2005)

Learn by experminting. Leave one open and close one up or all the rest.
If you worry about moisture do as a old fellow I met does. Place a third deep above the inter cover fill it with flakes of straw ( he likes Oat straw) to asorb the moisture. Another old fellow made deep size burlap bags and filled them full of cedar chips to asorbe the moisture.


Here is an expermint I tried one year on the idea of the Imre shim. didn't work well between the deeps and the supers as they built a mess of burr comb. Worked real well on top of the supers, they did plug up the vent holes on the sides with proplis though so drilling them is a waste.










 Al


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