hive roof space

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wightbees

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How long is a piece of string
From the top of the frames to the roof would the bees start to make comb
in this gap if no C board was in place.Or if there Supers are not filled do they leave this space empty.
 
they will build between the crown board and roof if they run out of space during a flow
 
so as long as there's room in the super it's left alone.
So if i was to put a couple of supers on and check in 1 wk would that be about right.
 
I don't .What i need to know is would they fill the space if left open.
I am making my hives with open top bee entrances as well as bottom.
I can close the entrance off if needed and for winter, but needed to make sure
it would not get filled with comb.
 
I don't .What i need to know is would they fill the space if left open.
I am making my hives with open top bee entrances as well as bottom.
I can close the entrance off if needed and for winter, but needed to make sure
it would not get filled with comb.

the bees only fill the space if all else is filled in the brood ( ivy honey in november), they are reluctant to fill space seperated by a small entrance hole in the crown baord. There are experiements on how small/large the hole can be,seen it on the web but cant find it now. Does it matter if the make comb...no just scrapp it out in spring,,and most likely they will not make it

i never make a feed hole larger than 1 1/2 inches diameter.

you can in any event use an insulation quilt in winter above the crown board..so no hole as it is covered by the quilt . i have seen a quilt/ insulation of ply backed polystrene as use in house flat roof use, straight 460x460 block (ply face down on crown to stop bees eating the poly)

lets not re open insulate/non insulate arguement until next winter though :party::party::party:
 
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There will not be a crown board in unless needed.
It's so i can have top bee entrance as well as lower one ( hi hopes ) for these bee's lol
 
If there is no crown board I would expect them to rapidly build comb from the roof. I don't think it would matter if there was a top entrance or not.

If you want a top entrance I suggest make a solid crown board but with a space below it so you can cut out a section from the frame and use that as an entrance. A bit like a Snelgrove board but with the entrance below the board not above. You could fit a hinged door to the entrance which only needs to be one bee space high. Keep the entrance small to avoid robbing. You would probably have to fit an empty super above the board to raise the roof up high enough for the bees to escape.

Alternatively, just drill a hole in the side of the super. This is what I have seen done most often.
 
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Thanks Rooftops
Muswellmetro I have no idea as i'm still in the planing stage lol
But i want to try it as it makes sence to me to have one .
 
Rooftops
What do you mean , for the bees to escape ?
 
What I meant was on wooden hives (I use poly) the roof overhangs the upper part of the hive so if you have an entrance in or at the top of the hive the roof might cover it. A way round this might be to make the roof a bit bigger or cut out a channel so the bees can fly under the roof lip and crawl up the outside of the hive and gain entrance that way. This might deter robbers as well.
 
Thanks , that makes more sence to me.
 
The easiest way round all of this is just not to do it.

Why do you think Weightbees that the colony will have a need for a top entrance as well as a lower one and how do you see their environment being improved by having one?

PH
 
I think that in the summer it will give a bit of fresh air moving through the hive.(temp down)
I also think the bees forager bees will have access straight to the upper frames, or thats what i have read somewhere.
I also think it will help when i move the Hives to fields of which i am planing on doing.
( put in mesh screen ,leave top entrance open)
If i got this all wrong please point out the wrong bits.
Please don't say it's all wrong lol
 
Now on my plans its says to give the roof a 3/8 gap all the way around the edge. But
when the roof sits on the top super that gap becomes useless.
(This is without my top entrance idea) :)
So should i make a allowance somewhere so as to let air in throught this gap.
This info is only needed if i don't go down the top entrance route,, i think.
best put my straight on this as well lol
 
The roof vents combined with OMF should give plenty of ventilation.

What about the foragers who bring back pollen to feed the brood in the brood box?
 
I think that in the summer it will give a bit of fresh air moving through the hive.(temp down)
I also think the bees forager bees will have access straight to the upper frames, or thats what i have read somewhere.
I also think it will help when i move the Hives to fields of which i am planing on doing.
( put in mesh screen ,leave top entrance open)
If i got this all wrong please point out the wrong bits.
Please don't say it's all wrong lol

Bees live naturally in hollow trees, no top ventalation, a single 1" vent cover in mesh in the roof suffices in very hot counties ( perhaps none at all in a heavy insulated poly hive)

in winter bees will block it up the roof mesh to cut down ventalation, in summer the hive still needs a brood temp of 35c, but with a OMF floor and no vent in roof it ok in most circumstances in UK...and the bees fan at the entrnaceis it goes above 30c outside


as i said, keep it simple, until you know Bees
 
You should have an air vent in the roof a small half inch hole meshed over or similar for ventilation the bees will regulate the temp in the hive

The forager bees will enter the hive and leave the nectar in the brood area for the younger bees to move it up to the supers

The 2nd entrance I dont know if it works for us

Best not to leave the entrance open when moving the hive no no no

Its not all wrong its hard when you are having to learn a new language we often learn more from mistakes than getting things right

perhaps drop the 2nd entrance keep it simple

I think perhaps the 3/8 gap may refer to making the roof that bit bigger all round so it is easily removed from the hive and re placed
 

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