post ways to top ventilate your hive!

[L Daxon]

As a hobbyist I can afford slatted bottom racks for each of my 3 hives.  They stopped the bearding almost immediately and there are other benefits to sbr(s) as well, such as letting the queen lay right up to the bottom of the frame and reducing the chance of chilled brood by elevating the bottom of the brood chamber up a bit from the entrance where it is away from drafts, etc.

[Seanmhair]

Beer caps work well for me, and I agree, slipping is not a problem as a little propolis goes a long way.  We hit 105 today and there is little bearding even in my big hive, prob 40 or so bees.

[Buffalo Bee Farm]

yeah the beer caps only slipped when they got hit by something etc... or leaned against the hive while inspecting and the cover slipped...

With 80-100 hives i dont have time to worry abot those little things, although the beer caps did work the best out of all of them...

Another thing i did try at one time and like was adding little screws into the front two corners of the underside of the inner cover frame, this allowed me to make an entrance at the top or almost full close it down or anywhere in between and nothing ever fell out etc...

Since i dont use inner covers anymore (migratory tops) none of this is an issue... i simply slide the box back...

[Sundog]

I see now that Brushy Mountain is selling a screen vent very similar to the one I made for under top ventilation.  I couldn't do without screening the top to keep out the other bugs, i.e. ants, roaches and SHBs.
http://www.brushymountainbeefarm.com/10-frame-Ventilated-Inner-Cover-Moving-Screen/productinfo/373/

What brand of beer do the bees like best?  Lager or Pilsner?   :-D

Have fun!

[tillie]

My son in law loves surprising me with the beer caps and puts a different label in every corner!

Linda T