>I am wondering what is best for venting a hive. I live in the Pacific
>Northwest I have a inner cover and a telescoping top with no holes or any
>way for air to pass through. What is the best method? Thanks in advance. I
>have learned alot from this list. I thank you all.

>
>Bruce Murphy
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Bruce,

There are many ways of ventilating a hive.  If you don't want to bore holes
in your supers there are still ways...

1. Stagger a super so that you leave a small crack on the front an back of
it and the super below (worked great in dry West Texas).  You have to watch
this though as if the crack is big enough for bees to get in and the colony
is a small or weak one, they can be robbed dry very quickly.  Also if ants
are a problem, same goes.  If the colony is strong this won't be a problem,
and can actually add additional entrances to relieve congestion.

2. Lay a nail (or even a match stick) under two bottom corners on the same
side of the inner cover, then cover with the telescoping outer cover.  I
usually choose the back side of the inner cover to prop up as this allows
the air current to go in the entrance, up through and out the opposite side.
Positioned this way, slide your outer cover back until it butts up against
the front of the inner cover to allow for ventilation, slide it forward to
cut off ventilation.  In the Pacific NW, with all the rain, this may be a
good option.

3. Take window screen and with duct tape, tape it over the oval hole in the
inner cover (on the top side of the inner cover).  You can then prop up the
outer cover with a couple small rocks or blocks of wood an inch or so high.
Make sure the outer cover is secured well with a few bricks or heavy rocks
on top or a gust of wind will blow it off.  Also in West Texas, this worked
well when I had trouble with ants sneaking in the open cracks of one hive.
The bees will eventually seal the screen mesh over with propolis, but it can
be pulled off and rescreened if needed.

4. Buy an Imirie Shim (Brushy Mountain).  It is a shim that fits between
supers (place high, low or even more than one and where you want it) that
has an opening cut into one of its narrow sides.  This gives the bees
ventilation and a second entrance.  I have yet to try one of these but I
hear many good things about it (and again, no holes borred).  It was
developed by one of the subscribers to BEE-L, George Imirie.

If you don't mind borring a hole in you supers, go to your hardware store
and find plastic caps that will fit either a 1, 1 1/4 or 1 1/2 inch opening.
Once you have some, auger that size into one narrow side of the super, about
an inch or so below the hand hold.  The reason I mentioned finding the caps
first is because eventually you may want to close up the hole for one reason
or another.  In a very small town once, it took forever to find the right
size caps I needed (I used duct tape until then).

--David Scribner
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