entrance blocks

[whoosling]

Do you leave them in on out over winter ?

 

[Norfolk]

Do you leave them in on out over winter ?

I always tend to put them in, although I have wondered about condensation being increased sometimes. On balance I'd rather give the bee's a little warmth and a more defendable entrance.

 

[sharonh]

Do you leave them in on out over winter ?

Hi whoosling,
Some take them out, and put mouse guard on for the winter.
Others leave them in place and put mouse guard on.
I have always left mine in, and put mouse guard on, but my hives are in my garden, so easy to check for dead bees, blocking behind the holes in mouse guard.
Its a matter of preference.
Mine are also on open mesh floors so get sufficient ventilation.
Everyone is different, you,ll see from replies.
Sharon

 

[Luminos]

Hi whoosling,
Some take them out, and put mouse guard on for the winter.
Others leave them in place and put mouse guard on.
I have always left mine in, and put mouse guard on, but my hives are in my garden, so easy to check for dead bees, blocking behind the holes in mouse guard.
Its a matter of preference.
Mine are also on open mesh floors so get sufficient ventilation.
Everyone is different, you,ll see from replies.
Sharon

A bit of both for me, with WBC's - the entrance blocks sort of double as mouse guards

 

[drstitson]

out - combination of reduced entrance and mouseguard limits possibilities for cleaning out the dead (especially if using inverted entrance block) and eventually covering whole OMF with a layer of corpses.

so block out, mouseguard on. with OMF open. when bees clustered in depths of winter it is easy to remove guard and sweep OMF clear of dead bees using a piece of cane (or the mouseguard itself).

BTW what is out there in winter that the bees need to defend against (apart from local italian robbers maybe) - certainly not wasps and mouseguard deals with mice. badgers or woodpeckers aren't stopped by entrance blocks.

 

[Headnavigator]

Entrance blocks out and mouse guard on for mine. Also I put a tilted sheet of glass against the front of each hive to discourage wasps and am presently trying to decide whether to leave this over the winter. It prevents rain blowing straight into the entrance and the bees seem to like the warmer area it provides. I leave a bee-space gap at the top to dissipate any excess heat in the sun. Bees can enter at the sides or over the top. Doesn't interfere with ventilation but does give an extra bit of shelter.

 

[victor meldrew]

Under floor entrance, no entrance blocks , no mouse guards , no probs thus far.
VM


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[garlicpickle]

I take the entrance blocks out and put the mouse guards on. My hives are a short distance away so it's not like I can pop there every day and check that there's no deads blocking a reduced entrance.

 

[Geohorn]

This year I have learned a lot and I will be putting on the mouse guard and leave the entrance block as its bout 2 1/2 inches wide. The OMF will give good ventilation, but as my hive is in the garden at home, I will check daily for any blockage of dead bees.

 

[whoosling]

As usual thanks for the answers as I've got 3 hives one on a solid floor I may try a variety.

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

Under floor entrance, no entrance blocks , no mouse guards , no probs thus far.
VM


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Same here

 

[YorkshireBees]

Just to add another answer, personally no mouse guards and the entrance blocks stay in all year round!
All my hives, both wood / poly are on OMF's.

So far not had any problems with mice, having said that it can always happen!

 

[itma]

Just to add another answer, personally no mouse guards and the entrance blocks stay in all year round!
All my hives, both wood / poly are on OMF's.

So far not had any problems with mice, having said that it can always happen!

This could be a successful strategy - IF - the entrance were restricted to be only about 7mm high --- which is one form of mouseguard.

My wooden hives (all open mesh floor) get the block removed and a full width guard fitted.
I'll do the same to a Payn poly that has a wooden floor.
My Payn floor gets a home-made 'pallisade' of frame nails into a home-made low restrictor (done before Payn offered their plastic block with 4 holes - which seems awfully few). It gets a poke with a chopstick whenever I remember during the winter, but didn't need it last year. But it is imaginable that it would be possible to block - hence the chopstick!
And I haven't decided what to do with the BHS poly floor with its under-and-up entrance. I doubt its as secure as the JBM slant on the Dartington and don't fancy trying to align a horizontal guard over the slot - so I may 'wall off' the whole front with plural standard guards.
There are mice in the garden, but so far, touch cedar, not in the hives!

 

[Erichalfbee]

Same here

Me too

 

[REDWOOD]

In all year no mouse things no problem (yet)

 

[Swarm]

Never used them and now most of the hives are full width 7mm entrances. I'm happy with this arrangement so I'll be making some floors with this entrance permanently built in, I've always found loose entrance blocks a PITA anyway.

 

[Cazza]

out - combination of reduced entrance and mouseguard limits possibilities for cleaning out the dead (especially if using inverted entrance block) and eventually covering whole OMF with a layer of corpses.

so block out, mouseguard on. with OMF open. when bees clustered in depths of winter it is easy to remove guard and sweep OMF clear of dead bees using a piece of cane (or the mouseguard itself).

QUOTE]

Me too. Probably popping mouseguards on this weekend now ivy is over here and Winter seems to be on it's way.
Cazza

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

that is the only negative aspect of under floor entrances - the ability to quickly sweep away the midwinter casualities - but come spring mine have always been clean anyway.

 

[Erichalfbee]

If you're that fussed I guess you can tilt the hive forward from the back and get an assistant to sweep the floor........
I do sometimes, through the winter, have a look up through the OMF to make sure I can see bottom bars

 

[margob99]

Entrance block only, never used a mouse guard. I like the sound of an under-floor entrance!

This year I am going without a woodpecker cage; the landlords of the property my bees are squatting on tell me they have no green woodpeckers - this is in Cheshunt. I hope they're right!