Alicia,
Rereading your original note, I may have misunderstood your question:
"I have a question about the inner
and outer cover set-up. Is there a tiny gap created between the inner
and outer cover?" My response was with respect to creating a deliberate
"air vent" around the edge of the inner cover. But if you meant, "is
there an 'attic space' between the inner cover and outer cover?" then
yes, by design there is enough space in the "attic" so that bees can
come and go through a notch in the front of the inner cover. If you
meant, "Is there space around the edges so that the outer cover fits
loosely (not tightly) over the inner cover?" then yes, by design there
is enough space long-wise in the outer cover so that bees can come out
the notch in the inner cover and crawl down the outside of hive to
enter & exit.
So that's 3 answers... I hope one of those questions was the one you
wanted an answer to! If not, let me know.
Randall
Randall Austin wrote:
4BB8DBB8.5030005 AT gmail.com" type="cite">
Alicia,
An inner cover is traditional (for hobbyists) but not necessary.
Commercial beekeepers don't typically use inner covers on their
migratory hives.
Some people don't see any value in using inner covers but in my opinion
they can be useful (but not essential). If bees attach the tops of the
frames directly to the cover, it can be easier to get them loose from
the inner cover (easier to see what is going on) than if they are stuck
directly to the outer cover. But not a earth-shattering issue either
way. Also if the inner cover is notched in the front, it can provide an
upper entrance, which perhaps the bees find handy. It makes sense that
it would be easier for a forager to go directly to the honey-storage
area (up top) rather than having to travel through the whole hive from
the bottom.
To answer your questions directly:
Is there a tiny gap between the inner and outer cover? Some hive
construction plans call for creating a very small airway around the
inner cover (e.g. by putting round-head screws in the corners). Yes,
this is a great place for beetles to hide and the bees will caulk it up
with propolis. But it isn't a life-and-death issue either way. Beetles
have plenty of places to hide even in the most "beetle smart" hive so
that isn't something I worry too much about.
Do you need a bee escape? Assuming you mean something like a Porter
escape (the little plastic thingee that fits in an inner cover hole),
triangle escape, etc., these are ONLY used for harvesting purposes.
I've had fairly good luck with triangle escapes but there is a trick to
them. The triangle is on a board somewhat like an inner cover. You
remove your honey supers, then put the triangle escape on the hive,
then stack honey supers on top of the triangle escape. So in the stack
of boxes, the escape will be somewhere in the middle. If you have a
notched entrance in your inner cover, make sure it is closed or just
remove the inner cover. Because of the triangular design, the bees
travel down through the escape (to get out) but have trouble traveling
back up into the honey supers. You go back the next day and hope the
supers are fairly empty, ready to harvest. The trick is that you need
to put an empty super (no frames) underneath the triangle escape, so
that when the bees go down they have someplace to go. Otherwise there
is a major traffic jam of bees coming out and unsuccessfully trying to
get back in, and the escape just doesn't work. Another trick is not to
use an escape with more than two or so supers at a time. More supers
than that and you've just got too many bees for the escape to deal
with. Note that an escape is only going to be on the hive for a day at
most. Longer than that and you've removed the protective bees from the
honey, making it a feast for wax moths, small hive beetles etc.
Could you have a solid inner cover? Sure, that wouldn't hurt anything.
I've also seen fully-screened inner covers, which is basically a
variation of that idea.
I would suggest that for your very first hive, you make it as
traditional (as store-bought-looking) as you can. Then as you use it
you'll discover the basic point behind certain features and also find
things that can be improved upon. But to be useful, the latter will
only come from your own retrospective experience.
Good luck!
Randall
Alicia Reenders wrote:
m2kd2235bc1004040616z67c1660eu1d10a9711099afa1 AT mail.gmail.com"
type="cite">Hello!
I am soon to be a new beekeeper, and I have a question about the inner
and outer cover set-up. Is there a tiny gap created between the inner
and outer cover? Do beetles ever hide out in that tiny space? Also, do
I have to have a bee escape in the outer cover, or in the inner cover
for that matter, or is that only for honey harvesting purposes? Could I
have a solid inner cover?
I saw a friend's hive that didn't use an inner cover at all. This
seemed to work well for him, though he did have some burr comb on the
underside of the cover.
Thanks! I might have missed the class where we talked about this. I'm
building my own hives, so would like to know what I really need to have
there.
-Alicia
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