# Bee entrences(round) what size and how many?



## MrGreenThumb (Apr 22, 2007)

Hello

My TBH is 1/2 to completion...lot tougher then I thought...all hand tools

For the entrence I deciede to go with round holes. Question is...what size of holes to make and how many? The entrences will be at the end of the hive.

THX


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## buckbee (Dec 2, 2004)

I use round entrances, three in the middle, low down, each 25mm (1"). 

See my site for pics and details.


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## bluegrass (Aug 30, 2006)

I am doing away with bottom boards on my hives. I am drilling one 1-3/8" hole in the hive body for an entrance.


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## beeprice (Mar 25, 2007)

*Top entrance...no holes*

I made KTBH this spring from pine. I used a top entrance by simply setting the first bar back 3/8" from the end board as per M. Bush. It seems to be working just fine. After spending a lot of time looking at as many TBH designs as I could find I decided that M's was the simplest of the lot. So I started out there and I don't intend to make any changes unless they will make the hive even simpler. After all, hollow trees are about as simple as they come and the bees seem to like them. KISS...a great rule for life...for bees and us too.


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## mistergil (May 24, 2007)

I'm using two TTBH's at the moment and when built, went with three 3/4" round holes at the bottom of one end with a 5" landing board as the hives are about 2' off the ground. The bees didn't seem to like the holes, just a perception on my part but their returning flights, when close to the hives seemed (don't have the right word) unusual. Slightly disoriented or something similar when in-flying and approaching the holes. They preferred to use the hole closest to the drawn comb side and congested that hole with few bees using the remaining two. As I had made a block of wood with the entrance holes drilled in it and made a slot for that block when built, it was easy to replace them with a 3/4' high full width opening entrance block. Just a gut feeling but these bees seem to like this set up better.


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## betrbekepn (Aug 7, 2006)

*Hole Size*

I'd recommend one 1 1/4" to 1 1/2" hole. That's what swarms look for.


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## buckbee (Dec 2, 2004)

bluegrass said:


> I am doing away with bottom boards on my hives. I am drilling one 1-3/8" hole in the hive body for an entrance.


I fear that this may not be enough entrance area for full bee traffic plus ventilation. I would suggest at least two and possibly three such holes or you may risk overheating and traffic jams.


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## TX Ashurst (May 31, 2005)

I've used everything from 1/2" to 1 1/8" holes and they all work after a fashion. I think bigger than that is better. I have 1/4" screen bottoms on most of my TBHives (all or part of the bottom) and in those, the bees go in & out the bottom via the too-large screen. The problem with that is that they loose a portion of their pollen in the screen. In the one that's had bees the longest, the bees have finally propolized the 1 1/8" round hole completely shut, so the screen is their only entrance.

I have also noticed that without a landing board, returning bees seem to have trouble getting in. They often miss the hole, fail to engage on the painted wood, and fall to the ground, then come back up for a retry. That's gotta hurt.

I am contemplating my next hive. One thought I'm having is to put little 3/8 - 1/2" blocks on either side of the hive so the first top bar is offset that amount across most of the top. If I do that, I think I'll also build a peaked top with a recess above that opening.


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## Michael Bush (Aug 2, 2002)

I've never regretted "no holes".


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## bluegrass (Aug 30, 2006)

buckbee said:


> I fear that this may not be enough entrance area for full bee traffic plus ventilation. I would suggest at least two and possibly three such holes or you may risk overheating and traffic jams.


Ventilation is not an issue, I have screens on the bottom of all my hives. Here is one of my entrances.


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## buckbee (Dec 2, 2004)

I thought this was a TBH thread. No matter - but don't you get 'traffic jams' with just one hole?


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## Beekeeper1958 (Sep 25, 2006)

Mt TBH that has 32 bars I put 7 3/4 inch holes as an entrance.
I can close some down if required.
No problems with the girls using them so far.
A 3# package I put in on May 5 is 2/3rds of the way down the hive already.
Going to do more TBH next year if this is an indication of what they'll do.
Besides the wax is what I'm after for my candles. The honey and pollination are side benefits for me.


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## beeprice (Mar 25, 2007)

*One more thing about entrance holes*

I have a bee tree on my farm. The bees have been there since at least 1997. They have closed up what appears to have been a knot hole about 5 inches in diameter to a opening about 1 1/2" by 3/8".


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## bluegrass (Aug 30, 2006)

An entrance is an entrance regardless of the type of hive. The nice thing about Langs is if one entrance is too small I can stack another box on with an entrance.


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## buckbee (Dec 2, 2004)

beeprice said:


> I have a bee tree on my farm. The bees have been there since at least 1997. They have closed up what appears to have been a knot hole about 5 inches in diameter to a opening about 1 1/2" by 3/8".


Interesting. Can you tell if the entrance is at the lower or upper end of the colony, or somewhere in the middle?


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