top entry

[3pepper]

i was reading about top entrys . do you leave the inner cover on and shim up the telescope cover or do you shim up the inner cover or do you remove the inner cover and shim up the telescope cover . what do yaul do ? i have alot of skunks and possum here so i am thinking of doing this

also i am thinking of making my own screen bottom boards , mainly because i am low on cash . i am a carpenter/woodworker so skill is not a prob . what type of screen should i use???
thanks again
3pepper

[Mike Gillmore]

I make my own screened bottom boards too. All you need are some left over 2 x 4's, a table saw, and some # 8 hardware cloth ( 1/8" opening ). I get my hardware cloth from a local hardware store... $.99 / ft. off of a 24" wide roll. I use glue and decking screws to fasten the pieces together and end up with a much better product than I can buy, and other than my labor... very low cost.

I allow bees to enter top and bottom. I keep the inner cover on and prop up the telescoping cover with shims. I'm sure there is a better way if you are using only a top entrance.

[Velbert]

Hi 3pepper

Possum are not really any trouble they just eat the dead bees that have died now skunks are trouble what i do is place a strip of nails sticking up just in the entrance about a quarter of an inch from the opening.(carpet strips) with the little tacks work great leaving bees room to enter at the bottom.I have found that with a top entrance the bees won't make as much honey.and i also started placing the colonies on 2 cinder blocks high.

[Sundance]

Screened bottom board plan


http://beesource.com/plans/ipmbottom.htm

Top entrances are great for many reasons. Mice, ventilation, and easy access to honey supers come to mind.

[Michael Bush]

You can do a top entrance with a couple of shingle shims any number of ways. You can shim up the top telescopic cover and slide it forward so they come over the inner cover and down through the hole. You can shim up the inner cover and slide the telescopic forward so they go in under the inner cover. You can put the shims under the inner cover, screen the hole and put on another box for ventilation (attic). The think I like about this arrangement is that the bees can fly right in the entrnace without having to land and crawl up under the telecsopic cover and I can't accidently forget to slide the telescopic cover forward. If you do that (with the previous arrangments) then the bees can't get out unless you have some other entrance. You can shim a migratory cover and make a top entrance.

Another method is simply widen the notch on an inner cover to the full width of the inner cover.

Just be sure if you use a queen excluder (which I wouldn't) that you have a drone exit below the excluder so the drones aren't trapped. Drones cannot get through an excluder and have to have a way out.

http://www.bushfarms.com/beestopentrance.htm
http://www.bushfarms.com/beeslazy.htm

[3pepper]

thanks everyone . gonna try shimming the inner cover up and see how they like it
thanks again
3pepper