# Size of auger hole



## shawnwri (Jul 31, 2006)

Just use some cheap shims under the inner cover or migratory top or go to top entrances.


----------



## iddee (Jun 21, 2005)

Many years ago, most beeks drilled a 3/4 inch hole about two inches down from the top of the box. Most beeks today provide a top entrance above the box.


----------



## B. Haning (Sep 14, 2007)

I use an 1 1/8th inch auger hole below the hand hold of supers and hive bodies. 1 1/8th inch is the right size to plug with beer or coke bottle caps when you don't need the hole. The bees seem to like to have more entrances so I leave them open unless the colony is weak and is likely to be robbed.


----------



## beemanlee (Dec 10, 2005)

*The need for a top entrance*



Medovina said:


> hello, newbie from Windham, Maine, first post.
> 
> Just fresh finished a beekeeping class. One of the suggestions in the class was to drill an auter hole into the beehive to provide top exit and entrane in case snow blocks the bottom hole with reducer. my question is: What size auger hole should I make?


The hive in winter produces moisture/heat which will condense on the top under side. This will inturn rain back down on the bees and end up on the bottom of the hive.....
Some smaller beekeepers use the inner cover method with a small entrance above that for the exit of water vapor and bees. And Yes shims do work like... "shawnwri" said .
Just remember that extra holes at one time of the year put into the box, will mess up your use of that box when you pull it full of honey and forget the hole was there. If you set it on the truck and forget to plug it, you will cause robbing to start and loose the honey you were going to have.
Lee....


----------



## WVbeekeeper (Jun 4, 2007)

Don't drill holes in your boxes. Instead, notch the inner cover to provide a top entrance and some extra ventilation.

http://i165.photobucket.com/albums/u76/ccohenour1/January 6 2008/IMG_2309.jpg

The upper deep in the picture has a hole in it, it is 3/4". I inherited this hive body and it came with the hole.


----------



## BjornBee (Feb 7, 2003)

Yes, drill holes in your boxes. You don't need an imrie shim, you don't need the negatives of having an entrance under your telescoping cover, and you can manipulate holes for a host of reasons including controlling where you want the holes to be.

I personally do not like inner cover notch entrances. It seem as where some have pointed out "forgetting" to plug a hole, the same could be said of whether your lid has been slid forward or back. 
I also like to sometimes take peak at the bees to see if a super is needed or where the bees are located, and having an entrance as part of your top, makes taking the cover off means the bees now lose their entrance. When I take a box off and the bees lose their hole, the field bees simply land on the face of the box below, and the guard bees stay with the box as its set aside. But when I take off the inner cover and remove the upper entrance, I will have bee fly around and have to deal with guard bees.

I can step up the holes as I place supers, leave them open, or plug them shut with a cork or wad of TP (unused preferred).

I've done the notch in the cover, the imrie shim, and found that for ease and not requiring any additional equipment, the hole seems fine. And except for the "gasp!" of drilling a hole in a piece of wood as it seems some fear a hole in their box, I have heard little actual reason or justification as to one negative of why NOT to have a hole in a box. Except for suggestions your too stupid to remember to plug a hole when harvesting your honey. But I have faith that you are smart enough.

I also like the dead air space that can exist above the upper entrance if you position it half way down your upper box. This dead air space is not seen with notch entrances in the inner cover. This dead air space and trapped heat can be a big boost for the bees in late winter and early spring.

I have not had ONE hive drowned or killed due to moisture dripping down on bees. Of course, I'm smart enough to NOT feed sugar syrup all winter which adds LOTS of moisture to the hive.

To answer your question....Most of my hole are about 3/4 inch.


----------



## mwjohnson (Nov 19, 2004)

I drill (some say I deface) all mine with 13/16" dia. holes at a pretty good upward angle, maybe 12 degrees (from horizontal) or so. For all the reasons Bjorn said.

A regular wine bottle cork fits tight.....leaves plenty of cork sticking out to grab hold of...and limits how much cork the bees have to gnaw down when they REALLY want a hole that I've just closed, to be open.

Good Luck, and have fun
Mark


----------



## JaiPea (Sep 27, 2005)

If you decide to drill a hole, consider offsetting it to one side away from the handhold. Picking up a box while bees are flying into the hole can result in unwanted attention....


----------



## Michael Bush (Aug 2, 2002)

>What size auger hole should I make?

I try not to drill holes in my boxes. I'd use some shims. But when I have drilled them (which I don't recommend) I go for about an inch or so. Whatever bit I have around in that ballpark.


----------



## Brent Bean (Jun 30, 2005)

I use the same practices that BjornBee dose, and have not had moisture problems I drill my holes ¾ inch.


----------



## carbide (Nov 21, 2004)

I don't drill holes in my boxes so that I don't have to remember another item to take with me to the bee yard when I'm putting pollen traps on. I want all of the bees to go through the pollen trap and not through some extraneous hole in one of the hive boxes.


----------



## JC (Jun 3, 2006)

Michael Bush said:


> >What size auger hole should I make?
> 
> I try not to drill holes in my boxes. I'd use some shims. But when I have drilled them (which I don't recommend) I go for about an inch or so. Whatever bit I have around in that ballpark.


Where do you put your (Imire?) shim for ventilation?


----------



## BjornBee (Feb 7, 2003)

JC said:


> Where do you put your (Imire?) shim for ventilation?


Where do you want the extra burr comb?


----------



## WVbeekeeper (Jun 4, 2007)

JC said:


> Where do you put your (Imire?) shim for ventilation?


The Imirie Shim is not used primarily for ventilation. It is used as an upper entrance.
http://www.beekeep.org/component/option,com_alphacontent/section,9/cat,27/task,view/id,32/Itemid,43/
It is to be used with drawn comb only, which reduces the amount of bridge comb as opposed to using foundation. You can have a few on your colony depending on how many supers is on it. The shim is also to be used in conjunction with an upper entrance. Instead of drilling a hole into a super I would rather notch the bottom of it 3/8" tall by 3" to 4" wide. This would give a nice entrance between frames and without the violation of bee space provided by a shim.


----------



## Mabe (Mar 22, 2005)

Geez Louise,

Where we are located we need as much ventilation in summer as possible. Hard to believe global warming has reached Wisconsin, but it has.

We drill holes in our brood boxes that will accomodate a wine cork as we drink _prodigious_ amounts of red wine (good for the heart among other things). If the black lab or flat coat retriever are found chewing the corks, we use pieces of black foam pipe insulation to close the holes in winter or during dearths to prevent robbing.

The upper entrance in the inner cover is a great idea and we do that too, in addition to screening a large rectangular opening (as opposed to the escape handhold in the traditional inner cover).

Try lots of different things you read about and decide for yourself what works in your neck of the woods. That's one of the advantages of belonging to this forum.

Mabe


----------



## Brent Bean (Jun 30, 2005)

With all due respect to G. Imire, a truly great beekeeper. But I found the Imire shim to be ineffective, the burr comb the bees drew out in this area because of the violation of the bee space created a lot of problems, to me it was a wasted piece of equipment. Drilling holes in all my supers provides ventilation and access without burr comb being built.


----------

