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Subject: Orange County, NC Beekeepers

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  • From: Randall Austin <ra41717 AT gmail.com>
  • To: Andrew Meyer <afmeyer9 AT gmail.com>
  • Cc: ocba AT lists.ibiblio.org
  • Subject: Re: [ocba] Entrance Reducer
  • Date: Wed, 26 Oct 2011 18:38:36 -0400

Andy,

I assume you are asking about using an entrance reducer as a mouse guard during winter. I try to put mouse guards on before the first frost and take them off when the bees are busting out in the spring. The goal is to put them on before the bees go into cluster, because that creates an opportunity for a chilly mouse to move into a snuggly warm hive. I’ve already got mine on. Too early isn’t a problem, but too late may mean you are trapping a mouse IN instead of OUT.

You can use an entrance reducer as a mouse guard, but I choose to use half-inch wire mesh cut into strips the length of the entrance and about 3 or so inches wide. I bend these into a “L” and tack them over the entrance. Using wire mesh, the bee traffic isn’t significantly impeded. A short roll of mesh from Home Depot will make enough mouse guards for your whole neighborhood.

I get confused about whether the standard wooden entrance reducers are supposed to go “entrance up” or “entrance down”. The answer should depend on the fact that undertaker bees need to clear out dead bees. What you don’t want is the bodies to pile up inside, blocking the entrance completely. “Entrance down” suggests that it is easier to drag out the dead. “Entrance up” suggests that if there is a layer of corpses at the entrance, the bees may still be able to climb over them to get out. If the reducer is set to the largest opening, hopefully the difference isn’t important and the undertaker bees can get the job done regardless. If you’ve got 2 hives, try one one way and the other the other way and let us know if it matters!

Randall Austin


On 10/25/2011 9:23 AM, Andrew Meyer wrote:
My hives do not have an entrance reducer. Is there any way the reducer
should be oriented; opening up or down, large or small opening? Does it
need to be in place now or does it have to get colder?

Andy



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