An old beekeeper in WI taught me to place a board in the bottom opening for winter, with a few 3/8 inch (9.5mm) holes through it. Bees go in and out pretty easily, but mice can't.
I usually run a top entrance with just enough of a bottom entrance to get air circulation.
My theory is that when you have a enclosure with a top and bottom opening, whichever opening is smaller limits the airflow, the size of the other opening is mostly irrelevant as regards airflow. having a larger top opening makes it somewhat easier to get moisture out of the hive, though not much.
So far this seems to be working. Early in the winter, the bees use the bottom entrance, but by spring they mostly use the top.
This is a popular device around here. You get three pieces of lath 4" long (3/8" x 1 1/2" x 4") and a piece of 3/8" plywood that is 14 3/4" by 4" (for a ten frame hive). You nail the plywood to the lath and slide this in the entrance (with a reversible bottom board turned so the entrance is 3/4"). The 3/8" space is the entrance and the mice never seem to go through this probably because they have to squeeze through for 4". The plywood makes a baffle that encourages the queen to lay all the way to the front as a slatted rack does and cuts down on drafts by the door. I don't use this because I run top entrances but if I ran bottom entrances I would be tempted.
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