Absolutely love them!
I have a "upper entrance" (not to be confused with a "top entrance") in most of my second brood boxes. When I place my supers, which also have a drilled hole in them, I plug the lower hole in the brood box and the bees automatically adjust to the hole above in the super. If I was using queen excluders, this has bees going in above the excluder within seconds of placing the supers.
I think they do help with traffic issues, increase ventilation, etc.
I think by the time you put supers on, any cause for robbing should be non-existant due to the colony being so strong. If they are filling supers....they are strong enough to defend a few additional small holes.
In dealing with insects, you will see everything. Of course there will be a hive that will propolise a hole shut. I don't see this as I take my honey off by the beginning of July in most years. If you leave supers on as we go into fall, bees will be more inclined to close them off.
I do not like "Imrie shims" and think they are crap. They are burr comb producers. And why would you pay, buy, build, store, carry, or even consider......a piece of equipment that you could eliminate in one drilling of a hole?
I have a "upper entrance" (not to be confused with a "top entrance") in most of my second brood boxes. When I place my supers, which also have a drilled hole in them, I plug the lower hole in the brood box and the bees automatically adjust to the hole above in the super. If I was using queen excluders, this has bees going in above the excluder within seconds of placing the supers.
I think they do help with traffic issues, increase ventilation, etc.
I think by the time you put supers on, any cause for robbing should be non-existant due to the colony being so strong. If they are filling supers....they are strong enough to defend a few additional small holes.
In dealing with insects, you will see everything. Of course there will be a hive that will propolise a hole shut. I don't see this as I take my honey off by the beginning of July in most years. If you leave supers on as we go into fall, bees will be more inclined to close them off.
I do not like "Imrie shims" and think they are crap. They are burr comb producers. And why would you pay, buy, build, store, carry, or even consider......a piece of equipment that you could eliminate in one drilling of a hole?
