Glenn Hile said:

> Does anyone have any experience with or opinions on the
> relatively new top entrance hives advertised in Beeculture?

> one immediate concern I had is that the entrance to the
> hive is sitting directly under the hive top feeder.  Robbing
> might be a major concern though the entrance is relatively
> small and should be easier to defend.

In Virginia, as in most places not suitable for filming a
remake of either "Ice Station Zebra" or "High Plains Drifter",
our mantra is "ventilation, ventilation, ventilation".
(Winter is over, so I hope I won't get too much flack from the
tiny but vocal minority of beekeepers who chant the mantra
"insulation, insulation, insulation" because they keep bees
where extreme winter conditions exist.)

Since you have a kit, maybe you can answer some questions:

a) Is there any sort of "vent" at the base of the hive?

   If not, I'd be concerned about the airflow path for the lower
   part of the hive (brood chamber) below the entrance.

b) Is the outer cover really placed directly on the top super?

   If so, I'd wonder if it would become glued in place by the
   bees, and unreachable with a hive tool due to the "lip" of
   the usual non-migratory outer cover.

   As an aside, I have tried the newer heavy-duty molded composite
   migratory covers offered by one of the larger migratory beekeepers,
   and they are a wonderful improvement over the usual wooden covers.
   These things are too sturdy and dense to be labeled "plastic".
   They appear to be made of something very dense and solid, like
   recycled tires combined with industrial epoxy.  They even passed
   the "drive the Volvo over it several times" test.

c) Is the entrance somehow expandable to full hive-width?

   If not, I'd wonder how the "fanning bees" could set up their
   usual formation to pull air into the hive for nectar evaporation.

d) When it gets hot and muggy, will the bees cover the front face
   of the hive?  I'd like to hear about this, if you care to post
   "results" later in the season.

   This (to me) was a big clue that the hive needed more airflow
   when I was first keeping bees, which I "solved" with old
   "retired" supers equipped with large vents covered with 8-mesh,
   and a bottom also covered with 8-mesh, placed below the inner cover.
   The bees rewarded me by covering the bottom mesh with propolis to
   block nearly all the spaces between the frames, proving that it was
   "too much of a good thing".

In the same magazine, one can find an ad for the "Bee Cool" hive-top
solar-powered hive vent kit.
http://www.beecool.com
The two products appear to be based upon very different basic
assumptions about "what bees need".  I'd love to set up a debate
between the principles of each product at the next EAS, but I doubt
that either would want to directly address the other's product as
an "opposite" approach.

Many have likely heard of the Imrie Shim, an "inner cover" with
no solid panel, and entrance hole(s) added.  (Go to
http://www.beeequipment.com and search for "shim" to see a diagram.)
These are intended as moveable top entrances to be added between
supers to a standard langstroth-style hive during nectar flows.
While a 3-way debate might be even better, one would have to be
either very brave or suicidal to consider debating Mr. Imrie.

There is also the "DE Hive"
http://www.beeworks.com/D.E.Hive.htm
which prompted me to seriously consider a 100% re-tooling of my
bottom boards to turn the longer side of a langstroth hive to
the "front", until I realized that I gained little by standing
at the back of a hive versus continuing to stand at the side.
This approach also stresses ventilation, but avoids electrical
components.

Since many of us reduce bottom entrances in winter, and add a top
entrance, most often in the form of an inner cover with a notch
or two in the "thick side", the kit appears to be very "winter
oriented".

The good news is that bees are very flexible creatures, and tend to
adapt to and thrive in conditions that might appear to be "less than
ideal" to one person or another.  I'd be inclined to tear this hive
down quickly when working it, just to see "where the bees hang out",
if there is no inner cover, and "where they fan", if there is no usual
"bottom board with large entrance" at the base of the hive.



                        jim

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