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drill holes in honey super?

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24K views 30 replies 24 participants last post by  Mike Gillmore  
B
#1 ·
My wonderful 81 year old bee mentor suggest I drill 3/4 holes in my honey supers. So the bees will not have to climb up from the bottom to the top super. I'm 6 high now on three hives and growing on others:D.

I did drill holes in 2 supers but I'm rethinking it. I worry about robbing with holes next to all that hard earned stores.
I'm thinking if they flew 2 miles they might like to use there legs a little LOL.

Is anyone doing this with there supers? Good or not so good?


dan
 
#18 ·
If you drill 1 1/8" holes you can plug them with metal bottle caps or plastic water bottle caps. The are quickly propolozed in and no harm done if you aren't using them. Many of my boxes have two in each end and I find them to be useful at times.
 
G
#4 ·
I been thinking about doing the same thing as a upper entrance and ventilation sounds like a good thing plus if you don't like it you can put a cork in it.
Has anyone done this?:rolleyes:
 
B
#5 ·
I drill a small hole (3/8 - 5/16", depending what I grab) angled upward to keep the rain out. I put one in most of the boxes, even brood. My bees like them. Some hives have used propolis and made the holes smaller for winter, or closed entirely. If need be, I can either tape it off or tack a small screen over the hole.
 
W
#7 ·
It's a good way to provide ventilation as well as providing an upper entrance. Hives strong enough that you are at 6 boxes high should be able to defend themselves against robbers. Not that this would apply to you, but I started drilling the holes on my hives in Maine where I knew the snow was going to bury the lower entrance for the bulk of the winter months.

Wayne
 
R
#8 ·
Sure, go and drill all of the holes you want. The "Bull of the Woods" would say the bees will thank you by flying out of the hole to sting you. We do not drill, and set back the super for an upper entrance.

Crazy Roland
 
#9 ·
My bees like the holes, I have 3/4" in front face of the boxes. If I want to plug them, I mash some wax comb into them. Some hive propolis them closed to the point where only one bee can fit in or out, a small round hole, some don't. They seem to like the holes as far as I can tell.
 
A
#11 ·
I drill holes in some of my brood boxes (7/8") but not my honey supers. Clearing bees out of the super for harvest will require you to block off the hole some how. I hope an elevated entrance near the top of the brood chamber is good enough.
 
#12 ·
I have a lot of equipment that I bought used. Many of the supers have holes drilled in the narrow end or ends. If you do drill holes in your supers be sure to do so about half way between the hand hold and the bottom edge of the box. Do not drill the hole in the hand hold. Do not drill hole between the hand hold and the top of the box. Think about it. Do it and you will find out why you shouldn't.

I find that holes in the deep supers used for the brood rearing area often gets used by the bees, but quite often holes in supers higher on the hive do not get used all that much.

If you have hives w/ 6 honey supers on them, is none of that honey ready to extract? Six high you must have a good nectar flow on there now. Are they back at it again now that the heavy rain storms have passed?
 
B
#27 ·
Thanks for all the replys, sounds like I will be just fine with holes, may try holes on a couple more and see if they like it. But, I guess I have egg on my face about six honey supers. Six as in all together,deep and 1 1/2mediums have brood, so one hive has 3 honey supers, 2 hives have 4 honey supers. This is my third year and looks like this will be a good year.
Thanks again
dan
 
#14 ·
You could use entrance disks. I made these as swarm traps.

 
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#15 ·
My bee mentor was just telling me how he uses a dehumidifier, a fan, and a small, closed room to get uncapped or part capped nectar dry enough to extract to re-use the supers. Could be helpful for a hive that full already.
 
C
#19 ·
Personally, I find it useless. From now on, with the hole in it, that super will always have to be facing front where the hole has been drilled. When moving bees for pollination purposes, just another entrance to be blocked or screened. Just push your inner cover back about an inch, and slant your outer cover on the edge of the inner cover and you'll not only be giving them loads of ventilation but also an upper entrance. As already mentioned elsewhere, just using your hive tool and moving the supers back an inch gives an entrance wherever you need it. Keep it simple, you never know how big a beekeeper you will become. OMTCW
 
#20 ·
It certainly may not be necessary, but it's also not useless. Say you need to make an impromptu split for some reason, but you don't have a proper bottom board. Or you want an entrance/drone escape above an excluder? Maybe you want to change entrance locations while using a sign board as an improvised Cloake board? Not useless.

Always more than one way to skin a cat - so why insult someone else's way? Couldn't you just say you find your way more efficient?
 
B
#21 ·
I have become more sensitive about drilling holes in any box, but in my area high snow fall is an issue and ventilation is always an issue, so I have used a 2 inch shim with a 5/8 hole and mount that just below the inner cover- in all seasons. If I am feeding, I screen it off easily with screen and a thumb tack and when things are busy and the flow is on I remove screen. Ned to close it- put a wine cork in it. It is effective and deters, due to its size, any robbing that I have seen and keeps your boxes 'hole-less". In winter it also gives me a nice space for hard candy with out adding to much 'tower height". For a 2x nuc set up you can put a middle divider down the shim, and have holes on opposite halfs of the shim and block or open as needed. Might be an option for you until, you see how it works? BM
 
W
#23 ·
On a strong hive, I've often set back the inner cover to increase ventilation and entrance size. Since it is just below the cover, there has been no issue with rain. If you offset anywhere lower than the top, you can always cut a strip of cardboard or plastic for the back side and just insert it over the back offset to make an eve or overhang. The front is already an overhang. I'm not sure why you would want to offset in the middle of a hive.
 
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B
#26 ·
Thanks warmbees and sqkcrk: I've heard folks here periodically mention doing it and always wondered how to avoid the rain. If I ever do it, I'll probably build a cap for the protruding side (as warmbees mentioned) as having a gully washer come through, as they periodically do here in the summer, soaking the inner wall of the hive just doesn't sound like a good thing for the bees.
 
A
#28 ·
I have drilled a 9/16 hole in some of my boxes and do not pay attention to where they end up. Consequently, some hives end up with a lot of holes and others not so much. It has not proven to be a problem with robbing or cold in the winter. I can't say at this time whether it helps or hurts except I do notice that the hives with the holes beard less. Survive-ability has not been affected by these holes. The bees can propolize these holes up and open them back up easily if they choose. I don't think that is true if you stagger the boxes.
 
#29 ·
There is nothing you accomplish by putting a hole in the box that you can't do by sliding the box back 3/4” or putting in a couple of shingle shims or using a Imirie shim.

Here are times I regretted drilling holes:
• Times I wanted to close up a hive and forgot the hole. (moving and using a bee escape come to mind)
• Times I accidentally put my hand either over, under or in the hole when lifting the super.
• Times in winter when I wanted to close it up more.
• Times that a hive gets weak and forgets to guard both entrances and they get robbed and I have to find a way to close it off.
• Times that I need a box without a hole and the only one handy has a hole in it.

If you have holes in your equipment you can plug them with a tin can lid tacked over the hole. In the beeyard in a pinch you can plug them temporarily with a wad of beeswax. But you have to remember it's there...
 
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