Greetings: 
I'm  presently building small mating hives. I am familiar with Apedia  etc. 
I reread  Jay Smith's book on queen rearing several times. 
In the  book he states the following: 
<A small mating hive should not have a ventilator, as the air will  blow in 
through it and cause <the bees to realize their weakness and they  will 
abscond.  
What's  the opinion out there from your experience nowadays 
Are  ventilators necessary or is the -half inch entrance hole on an angle in 
the  middle as he states -enough. 
Walter  
Ontario

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