Upper Entrance Variation Question

[Rader Sidetrack]

I tried to link the photobucket album of my hive-building experience, but it says it needs to be approved by a moderator first. Did I link it wrong?

It sounds like the message is referring to attachments, which are not related to posting photos thru Photobucket. See post #8 of the thread linked here for a basic guide to using Photobucket and Beesource.

http://www.beesource.com/forums/show...-Photo-pragram

[MidwestPrimitive]

http://s1285.photobucket.com/albums/...ng%20Beehives/

Nice. Thank you.

[chrisd4421]

For a simple top entrance and minimal time, seems to me that Micheal Bush's concept is simple enough and effective. To keep the hive top level, couldn't one just expand the notch in an inner cover? If you wanted to place it between brood and supers, you would have to route out the middle of the cover.....

I am going with top entrances in the spring and the expanding of the notch is what I am going to attempt. My entrance will be above all boxes; brood and supers.

Chris in NJ

[ccar2000]

I like that link ccar, thank you. It helps me visualize the layout and order. I think I have a solid plan for all three hives now. A shimmed/pitched opening above the brood nest on #1, a 3/8 inch board with an entrance cut and channels cut to match the frame layout on #2, and holes for entrances on #3. Although I might trade #1 for a full top entrance(I'm still thinking I don't want pitched supers). All using no/minimal access at sbb.
Will a single 3/4 inch hole be big enough for a main entrance? Too big?

I've heard that as a rule of thumb a hive needs three square inches of entrance space. A 3/4" hole would give you about about a half of a square inch opening. I am thinking that on a round opening, circumference is key since the bees will not fly directly into the hole but crawl into it. That said, in my case I run a 3/8 x 3 inch standard entrance opening year round which give me about an inch and a quarter. I only have an upper entrance when the super is added. I rarely have traffic flow issues at the entrance and it is still defendable from robbers, a problem in my area. What works for one may not work for others. You just gotta try something and see what works. I like the idea of trying different setups however, the bees are going to do what they do no matter how you try to standardize them.

[Acebird]

yoUR link worked fine.

[MidwestPrimitive]

[QUOTE=ccar2000;880092]I've heard that as a rule of thumb a hive needs three square inches of entrance space. A 3/4" hole would give you about about a half of a square inch opening. I am thinking that on a round opening, circumference is key since the bees will not fly directly into the hole but crawl into it. That said, in my case I run a 3/8 x 3 inch standard entrance opening year round which give me about an inch and a quarter.QUOTE]

Thank you.