[beedp]

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.

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

 

[JakeDatc]

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

can do top entrance in many ways without drilling holes. but since you did it already they should be able to defend it.. or they will propolize it up

 

[JStinson]

Even if they don't use it for an entrance (and they might not), it will help with hive ventilation and drying of the nectar.

I'd leave it alone.

 

[GLOCK]

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?

 

[blueskydixon]

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.

 

[rsderrick]

I've done it for years. It works well for helping the bees get right to the honey supers and also helps with ventilation. Just keep a cork or duct tape handy just in case you need to close it up.

 

[waynesgarden]

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

 

[Roland]

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

 

[RayMarler]

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.

 

[RAK]

You could always duct tape the holes in the fall.

 

[Andrew Dewey]

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.

 

[sqkcrk]

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.

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

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?

 

[sqkcrk]

plus if you don't like it you can put a cork in it.
Has anyone done this?

I don't know anyone who drinks that much wine, unless it comes from a box which doesn't provide one w/ a cork. Put a cork in the idea of drilling holes and simply shift a box a little bit forward.

 

[odfrank]

You could use entrance disks. I made these as swarm traps.

 

[BlueRidgeBee]

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.

 

[Aucoop94]

I just place an imirie shim between the supers. No drilling required.

 

[sqkcrk]

Could be helpful for a hive that full already.

I wouldn't. Let the bees do what they do the best.

 

[David LaFerney]

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

can do top entrance in many ways without drilling holes. but since you did it already they should be able to defend it.. or they will propolize it up

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.

 

[Cedar Hill]

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

 

[David LaFerney]

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?