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  • Bee Hive building & a place to share howto's on equipment
Bee Hive building & a place to share howto's on equipment
 #8514  by Steve 1972
 16 Aug 2020, 16:41
I have been meaning to post this for a while now and finally got around to it today..just in time for the wasp season..so here you go.. feel free to ask any questions if you do not understand the pictures.. ;)

Several years ago when i got my first colony i was tortured with wasps..i asked advice and Nigel came up with a cracking idea which i modified to suit me..
I had never heard of or seen them before but it was a tunnel entrance attached to the outside of the hive made with various pieces of wood...
After a bit of playing and thinking i came up with this idea for a standard national open mesh floor..
Height and width wise may vary depending where you buy your floors from or if you make your own regarding the full entrance block size..

The tunnel entrance it's self is 100mm wide x 100mm deep into the hive and 8mm high..all the cutting can be done with a good electric chop saw or a good old hand saw and wood chisel...

You will see a small shim of wood with a screw...that is to narrow the entrance down to 50mm wide and other shims can be used to go to a single bee space..
I have made and used underfloor entrances but imho from viewing the entrances and floors of eight colonies over the past 4/5years the tunnel entrances win hands down..not a wasp on this planet can fight it's way through those narrowed down tunnel entrances..these entrances also double up as mouse guards and i leave them in all year but pull them out when the double brood colonies are bursting summer time.
Steve.

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 #8517  by NigelP
 16 Aug 2020, 18:02
The real question to ask Alfred.... is what is better for the bee keeper..... a colony robbed out with wasps or the possibility of some brace comb.? I don't think Steve has had an issue with brace comb to date...but his to tell
Those entrances really work vs wasps.

Other option of course is ginormous colonies....no wasps no problem.
 #8518  by Steve 1972
 16 Aug 2020, 18:35
Alfred wrote:
16 Aug 2020, 17:43
Do you get bracecomb from the frames above?
No not that i have seen Alfred..but the brood box top bars/super top bars/Queen exluders and crown boards have brace comb every time i inspect the hives so i can deal with a little bit above my tunnel entrances if need be.. ;)
 #8522  by Alfred
 17 Aug 2020, 08:33
Thanks both
It was a genuine enqury not a sideswipe
I am thinking of something like this when I standardise my floors ( so they all use the same size blocks and trays)
It's just that I've got one colony that seem to have formed an Isambard Kingdom Brunel tribute act.
I don't want to give them any encouragement.
I've changed all their woodware to ensure its not dodgy kit but they would appear to be happier at Harland and Wolff....
 #8524  by Steve 1972
 17 Aug 2020, 10:37
Those entrances really do work Alfred..i hived three Nucleus colonies yesterday and all three have a narrowed down 50mm tunnel entrance at the moment as the wasps have got a whiff of the uncapped stores i gave them yesterday..each colony now has a tunnel full of guard bees which is impregnable to wasps..
 #8526  by AdamD
 17 Aug 2020, 12:58
What a simple idea (in a good way!).

My own problem has been wasps and mini-nucs as they are too small in many ways.
 #8527  by Patrick
 17 Aug 2020, 13:43
Nice one Steve. No good reason not to do similarly if you ask me. The

My nuc floors are homemade therefore only ever have restricted entrances
 #8528  by Steve 1972
 17 Aug 2020, 13:44
I had a problem with wasps one year Adam with my Paynes Poly Nucs..i got arond this by making the tunnel type entrance out of a piece of pipe the same diameter as the nuc entrance and then making a box around it to stop the bees getting confused when entering the hive..here are the pictures of what i made..

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 #8529  by Steve 1972
 17 Aug 2020, 13:49
Patrick wrote:
17 Aug 2020, 13:43
Nice one Steve. No good reason not to do similarly if you ask me. The

My nuc floors are homemade therefore only ever have restricted entrances
I have found with the standard entrance block or poly Nuc entrances that the wasps can sometimes still gain entry by crawling in and then climbing straight up on the inside of the hive..