NUC box entrance.....

[beeboybee]

Have I messed things up?
I have been converting a 14x12 into two 1/2 sizes NUCs, because of the rail and floor bits of timber not being flush with the sides I have cut the entrance about a third of the way up, will this be ok as all my other kit has an entrance just below the bottom of the frames... Mine in now 1/3 of the way up the side of the frame?

 

[REDWOOD]

I can't see it being a problem, I have seen lots of nucs with an entrance like that

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

I can't see it being a problem, I have seen lots of nucs with an entrance like that

The only thing is the bees may have difficulty cleaning out the floor - but as nucs aren't designed to be occupied for long, it's not a massive problem.

 

[beeboybee]

Was thinking the same about floor clearing, must take some pics, next on the wood bashing list is two 1/2 sized miller type feeders to go with this beast of a NUC box.

 

[Goran]

Some make entrance up intentionally, also they say if they don't clean the floor by themselves they exclude the queen from further selection. Also normal size hives, but I am still "green" and not bold to try this. But the main reason for upper entrance is cause of micro climate in the hive, I cannot comment it yet.. Round entrances ( 25-35mm diameter)..

 

[user 6228]

From a thermal view it's best to have the entrance well below the brood frames. If you make a nuc box cover from PIR I.e reticel, kingspan etc you can lower the effective entrance height and insulate at the same time. There is a poly nuc under this thing. The bees come and go out of a gap at front between the box and the cover. The "landing board" is the green netting

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

I just cut the side with the entrance 10mm shorter leaving a gap the width of the nuc at the bottom(in case of any pedants reading ) with a chamfered batten on top to reinforce and form a 'porch'. Just stuff a piece of foam on if I need the entrance reduced or put an offcut of OMF over it held in place with a piece of lath or thin ply to transport the nuc to another apiary whilst giving the bees plenty of ventilation. handy when making up nucs, take some frames of bees and a good shake of bees from one apiary and bring back to the other three miles away, no need for excessive grass in the entrance (leave a bit in to last ten minutes or so to stimulate reorientation that's all)

 

[drstitson]

a green maysemores feeder has two cones so will fit nicely on top of the 2 crowboards - so long as they have suitably designed rims to prevent bee mixing.

 

[beeboybee]

Oh will look into that feeder thanks

 

[Dishmop]

Have I messed things up?
I have been converting a 14x12 into two 1/2 sizes NUCs, because of the rail and floor bits of timber not being flush with the sides I have cut the entrance about a third of the way up, will this be ok as all my other kit has an entrance just below the bottom of the frames... Mine in now 1/3 of the way up the side of the frame?

Cover it over and put a new one the other end.

 

[Little John]

Have I messed things up?
I have been converting a 14x12 into two 1/2 sizes NUCs, because of the rail and floor bits of timber not being flush with the sides I have cut the entrance about a third of the way up, will this be ok as all my other kit has an entrance just below the bottom of the frames... Mine in now 1/3 of the way up the side of the frame?

Shouldn't worry about it. If you read the seminal article on 'Natural Bee Nests' critically - which so many are fond of quoting in support of bottom entrances - you'll see that the bottom entrance conclusion is dubious (and that's being generous).

LJ

 

[pargyle]

My hive entrance is at the top of the frames and is a 25mm hole ... it's been fine all summer but I've now closed up the 'periscope' so that they are, effectively, entering at the bottom of the hive and there will be no excessive heat loss from top of the hive.

The only thing that I'm not sure about at present is whether I should reduce the size of the 25mm entrance hole for the winter - not from the point of view of heat loss but to ensure that there is no possibility of a mouse finding its way in. It would have to be pretty adventurous to get to the entrance hole via the periscope but I know how agile mice can be when they want to get somewhere ...

 

[MuswellMetro]

've worked on hives with top entrances ( Hedgecoe Hive as sold by £hornes and earlier variants) and they are ok in Summer as if they are vertical stack hives like the hedgecoe the bees have easy access to the supers without going through the brood area and it only troublsome with more pollen than usual in the supers

but very problematic in winter because the Mortuary bees cannot easily remove the dead ( can be 1000s of dead bees and you get a matted mess of smelly rotting bees on the mesh floor, The current hedgcoe Hive now has a droppable floor to clear the mesh of bees, Not even then ideal

 

[pargyle]

but very problematic in winter because the Mortuary bees cannot easily remove the dead ( can be 1000s of dead bees and you get a matted mess of smelly rotting bees on the mesh floor, The current hedgcoe Hive now has a droppable floor to clear the mesh of bees, Not even then ideal

My mesh floor is attached to the bottom of the hive with two hive clips - undo them and it drops down onto two rails at either end of the stand so that I can slide it out and clean any debris off. Having said that ... I've dropped it down only twice this season and each time there was virtually nothing on there so the undertakers must be doing their job somehow ?

I take your point that in winter there's likely to be more dead bees in the hive itself and possibly less incentive for the mortuary attendants to dump the bodies ... will have to keep an eye on the floor over the winter and see how they get on.