Do a search, there are countless threads on this and 100 different thoughts
Top Entrances
What’s the thinking about drilling a hole in super as a top entrance to help the bees avoid travelling through the brood box and the QE? In a National where would you drill the hole? Thanks
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one thing to keep in mind is that the foraging bees don't travel up to the supers to deposit nectar. instead, they pass it off to receiving bees near the entrance, and then it gets passed up through the colony, and eventually deposited upstairs.What’s the thinking about drilling a hole in super as a top entrance to help the bees avoid travelling through the brood box and the QE? In a National where would you drill the hole? Thanks
pollen on the other hand gets deposit by the foraging bees. one of the drawbacks of an upper entrance is that pollen could get deposited in near the upper entrance, where is doesn't do any good if the broodnest is below an excluder.
Top entrance would probably be a good doorway for robbers too.
I drill a 3/4" hole a couple inches or three up from the bottom edge in the center of the box. If I need it plugged I just cram some burr comb into it to plug it up. I use them for ventilation more than anything else. The reason I don't use them for foragers is for what @squarepeg posted in post #3 above.
I've always used an upper entrance
I like upper entrances and alot of my supers have 1/2" holes drilled in them already. ( I bought them used in bulk) Or they are damaged to where theres a gap or something where they can come or go. As for robbing theres no issue for me because (maybe its just me...) but of my 200 + hives i've not observed robbing in honey flows. Im not saying that others havent experienced that I just have not. By the time the bees start that behavior its time to pull honey supers split the colonies and feed up for the next flow. But yes as it is mentioned the foragers bring the nectar drop it as soon as they can and roll back out. I find they always end up using the both entrances but as far as results and benefits who could even determine. All hives are different so comparing one to the next is already apples to oranges and the difference is probably small anyway. I'd have to imagine skipping the excluder has to have some advantage as the detractors of excluders call them honey excluders. I myself love running singles below an excluder and its vital to my method of honey production so an upper entrance is fine with me.
Side note. This is the nature of bees you need a certain amount of bees for critical function i.e. queen care and brood rearing, and also chasing beetles around, then you need foragers, and younger hive bees to put the nectar in the cells and dry it. The bees will fill up every cell THEN start drawing new comb and filling supers (in general). This is why feeding before a flow is important and with frame feeders that colony gets to work 24/7 in good weather and bad filling the cupboards so when the flow comes you can stop the feeding and throw on the supers and its all going above the excluder and hopefully you by then have a good supply of young bees to handle the nectar and produce wax. Also well feed bees during the lead up to a honey flow creates more bees and healthier bees as the work of collecting honey out of the feeder is easier and provides a good supply of "nectar" for direct feeding not what happens with honey.
Side note. This is the nature of bees you need a certain amount of bees for critical function i.e. queen care and brood rearing, and also chasing beetles around, then you need foragers, and younger hive bees to put the nectar in the cells and dry it. The bees will fill up every cell THEN start drawing new comb and filling supers (in general). This is why feeding before a flow is important and with frame feeders that colony gets to work 24/7 in good weather and bad filling the cupboards so when the flow comes you can stop the feeding and throw on the supers and its all going above the excluder and hopefully you by then have a good supply of young bees to handle the nectar and produce wax. Also well feed bees during the lead up to a honey flow creates more bees and healthier bees as the work of collecting honey out of the feeder is easier and provides a good supply of "nectar" for direct feeding not what happens with honey.
I would echo Squarepeg, some colonies use the upper entrance to just plug out whole frames with pollen.
I have upper entrances built into my lids, if a hive is shoving pollen in above the excluder I close the door and force them into a bottom only situation. I am not familiar enough with National set-ups, could you raise the lid and make a temporary upper entrance?
I have upper entrances built into my lids, if a hive is shoving pollen in above the excluder I close the door and force them into a bottom only situation. I am not familiar enough with National set-ups, could you raise the lid and make a temporary upper entrance?
I used migratory lids and propped them open a little with a strip of woodI would echo Squarepeg, some colonies use the upper entrance to just plug out whole frames with pollen.
I have upper entrances built into my lids, if a hive is shoving pollen in above the excluder I close the door and force them into a bottom only situation. I am not familiar enough with National set-ups, could you raise the lid and make a temporary upper entrance?
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