Location Of Bee Hive Entrances
Location Of Bee Hive Entrances
The beehive entrance reducer can be placed in several places. Typically on a Langstroth hive, it is on the bottom board on the bottom of the hive. But an entrance can also be placed on the top of the hive; this is up to the beekeeper’s discretion. A bottom entrance makes a modern Langstroth hive easier to manage during hive inspections. When the entrance is at the top of the hive, you get many confused bees in the air when you start taking the hive apart. When working your hives, you can only take so many bees in the air.
Besides the Langstroth hives, the most popular type of hive is the horizontal Langstroth Hive or the Top Bar Hive. Usually, those two hives are handmade, so when making them, you can make the entrance the size you want.
The beehive entrance reducer can be placed in several places. Typically on a Langstroth hive, it is on the bottom board on the bottom of the hive. But an entrance can also be placed on the top of the hive; this is up to the beekeeper’s discretion. A bottom entrance makes a modern Langstroth hive easier to manage during hive inspections. When the entrance is at the top of the hive, you get many confused bees in the air when you start taking the hive apart. When working your hives, you can only take so many bees in the air.
Besides the Langstroth hives, the most popular type of hive is the horizontal Langstroth Hive or the Top Bar Hive. Usually, those two hives are handmade, so when making them, you can make the entrance the size you want.
The Reason A Small Entrance Is Good
The Reason A Small Entrance Is Good
A smaller entrance size means fewer bees dedicate their days to guarding the entrance.A bee that is not a dedicated guard bee means one more bee that can be foraging or responding to other needs the colony may have. Having an oversized entrance requires the bees to spend more time and resources than they could be spending on another activity.
Even with a small entrance, bees usually perform all their daily jobs in the brood nest. This includes the need to clean out the hive by taking dead bees out of the hive. Sometimes, a small entrance can become clogged with debris like dead bees, but when the entrance reducer is sized large enough, this shouldn’t be an issue.
A smaller entrance size means fewer bees dedicate their days to guarding the entrance.A bee that is not a dedicated guard bee means one more bee that can be foraging or responding to other needs the colony may have. Having an oversized entrance requires the bees to spend more time and resources than they could be spending on another activity.
Even with a small entrance, bees usually perform all their daily jobs in the brood nest. This includes the need to clean out the hive by taking dead bees out of the hive. Sometimes, a small entrance can become clogged with debris like dead bees, but when the entrance reducer is sized large enough, this shouldn’t be an issue.