[Rottybee]

I recently cut some plywood for top covers. I bought a pack of shims that are 3/8 " thick on the wide end and down to nothing on the other end. They are about 6 inches long and I ripped them on my table saw to 3/4 wide. When I put them on the hives, I have a perfect gap along the entrance side (161/4) but along the long side there is a gap left the full length on the top cover. Does that make sense to you all? Do I need to make a shim that runs the full length on the 19 and something length?

 

[mike haney]

naw, that'll be fine. good luck,mike

 

[Rottybee]

naw, that'll be fine. good luck,mike

What'll be fine? The gap is big enough that it makes it own entrance down each side.
A lot of answers to the posts are really short. I appreciate the answers but can y'all expand on the responses for us newbies? What do you mean..."that'll be fine"? There is a gap down the long side that will probably let in intruders. I'm thinking I need to make a wedge that will block off the gap.

 

[sebee]

It seems that if you put the thick end near the end of the plywood where you want your entrance, then the gaps that are left towards the back end would be too small (less than 3/8") for any bees to get out (or in), so it would really just be adding some ventilation near the back of the cover. Even if a few bees get through, if the colony is strong, Im sure it will be able to defend itself. I wouldn't be too concerned, but then again I don't use top entrances.

 

[Rottybee]

Yeah, I noticed that it would be extra ventilation but it seems like it's too much. I have been on Michael Bush's website and read about using shims but the details are sketchy. The gap down the side is concerning me. Maybe it should'nt. Any more help is welcome.

PS. About the colony being strong.........this is a new colony, started the first part of May. Two of them.

 

[sqkcrk]

Rottybee,
Why don't you just throw those shims away and do what a friend of mine does and put a small stick in one of the corners. You'll have a top entrance and the rest of the hive will be covered tight. Especially after the bees glue it down.

 

[mike haney]

What'll be fine? The gap is big enough that it makes it own entrance down each side.
A lot of answers to the posts are really short. I appreciate the answers but can y'all expand on the responses for us newbies? What do you mean..."that'll be fine"? There is a gap down the long side that will probably let in intruders. I'm thinking I need to make a wedge that will block off the gap.

sorry to be "short" but i'm a one finger typist on dial-up. i meant just that-it will be fine to have a tapered gap down the sides. they'll defend it, and if they dont like it they'll propolize it closed. a custom wedge will work, but in my humble opinion, is not required. good luck,mike

 

[Mike Gillmore]

I ran into the same thing this spring when I put together some top cover entrances using cedar shims. To fill in some of the gaps in the back I trimmed down a few extra shims for each side and overlapped them down the edge. It's not pretty, but it took care of the open spaces that yellow jackets or other bees could squeeze through.

 

[Brooklyn]

This is what I did.

I have changed the entrance since this picture and the new on has been working great.

I will add new pictures soon

http://brooklyn55bees.blogspot.com/...-max=2011-01-01T00:00:00-05:00&max-results=15