Top hive entrance

[smac101]

I have been reading about top hive entrances in addition to the common bottom "porch" type. So today I drilled a 5/8" hole in the top front of my top hive body. Is the size about right? It seems plenty big enough for two bees to pass without difficulty and small enough to defend. Should I plug it or let it ride and see what happens? I couldn't find any reference about how big the hole should be.

Thanks,
Sean

[Hook]

That should be ok. I have holes in my supers as well. The hole looks big, but if your bee comes loaded with pollen, it might seem small to her!

[Michael Bush]

I've made them as big as 1 1/4". I think it's a bigger problem when the nights get cool, the bees hunker down in the bottom and the moths move into the top. It's nict to be able to open them up during the hot weather and close them easily when it's cool. I quit doing it though and went to the DE Lanstroth conversion kit (or derivations of my own) which has one you can open or close in the inner cover. It's much nicer. It's a pain when you want to close the hole you've bored and don't have anything handy. Or you want to rob the super, but the bees keep getting back in as fast as you can get them brushed off. I've also seen inner covers with a groove for this purpose that you just slip the telescopic cover forward enough to let them in, or slip it back far enough to not.

[Dave W]

Doesnt your Inner Cover have a notch in the rim? If the notch is placed to the front of the hive and the Outer Cover is pushed forward, you already have a 'top entrance'.