Bees LOVE sheep poop that has dried out and has begun to decompose for an eco floor. To keep it from drying out I mix in Fall leaves collected in the spring after the snow melts from under the Aspen trees at the bank of our stream. The leaves have a strong sweet smelling odor of decay. This mix is moist and lasting (and my sheep produce the main component by the ton!). I don’t know why they love it but they instantly settle and remain calm as I get into the hive. I make my own shellac so I have started coating the scorched insides fo the hives I’ve been building. I need to get several of these hives going on my own property before I can convince other beekeepers of the benefits. Thanks for sharing…as a member of the Newbie Tribe I appreciate all of your videos! This last Summer we had a six week ‘heat dome’ when our usual 80-90F weather went on to 117F (48C) for over six weeks. It was disastrous for crops, bees and wildlife and we even had to hire an emergency shearing for our sheep. Normally we get about 105F for just a few days in August.
Great information.thanks. I just built a top bar hive using 2 x 12 from my local sawmill. According to him 2" equals 12" of insulation. Torched it inside and out and tung oiled outside, neat idea. For the eco floor i inserted a length of pvc pipe with holes drilled in it,capped on one end, the other end went through the hive with a hose attachment for easy watering.
Phil, nice Video. Firstly I like your comments regarding the flooring. You comment and say “it’s a matter of debate” which is like a breath of fresh air! Thanks for being honest and discussing this in a way that is constructive! I am not a top bar hiver but this is really interesting with good additional content. There is certainly a lot we can learn from each other, no mater what type of bee hives we keep. It’s all about sharing knowledge and being open and honest! Secondly I am gonna send you a tripod!!😉🐝🐝🐝
Great to see more about eco floor usage. Among my beekeeping fellows out here, a lot of talk about interior prep and exterior prep too. From wax dipping to tung oil coating and in one case a friend stapling window screening on the interior walls to encourage propolization of the surfaces. One supply outfit here is offering boxes what have been roughened up mechanically to encourage bees to propolize. I think the torching is a great idea! Thank you again. I have shared this vid with my club out here.
I take a wire wheel on the inside of my hives as to rough up the wood which seems to encourage the bees to add more propolis to the inside of the hive.
That's one approach, although it would increase the surface area of the wood fibres and therefore increase its water absorbency, making more work for the bees to do. I prefer to reduce absorbency and create a relatively water-repellent surface, which is what the bees do when they add propolis.
Hi, Phil. Just wanted to let you know that my eco-floors (based on your design, and installed in my first ever hives) are full of earwigs now as you predicted. So far so good. Excited to see how it goes. Wanted to pass it on.
As usual, fascinating and comprehensive upload Phil, thank you. Would thicker timber all round offer more stable thermal insulation do you think? You mentioned insulation - straw, for example - in the voids at the ends of the hive, yet I imagine the far greater surface area of the long sides compromise thermal stability more. OTOH, the ubiquitous Langstroth hives in the colder climes of North America at 20mm wall thickness (0.78") seem to get the bees through those far, far colder winters than we ever encounter in the British Isles. BTW, as a nerd, may I ask what that device is on your wrist?
The sides matter less, as they are only close to the ends of the combs, and there is a natural air gap of 6-8mm. The wrist device is the bluetooth remote for my camera.
You could make that gutter a bit longer so it sticks out a bit. Put a removable lid on it. Now when the floor is drying out pop off the lid and water. Guttering holds water too well so a few small drain holes at the bottom will ensure that a flush of water is absorbed by floor material but also drained out quickly. A bigger hole at desired level for flood control of course :-)
Not a bad idea, although it would already be possible to do that by adding water within the hive, as I leave a 4 inch gap between the end wall and the first divider/follower.
Hello there, thank you so much for giving such amazing informations about how you mange your beehives, But there is a question in my mind which is how you treat the bottom of the beehive box during the cold or winter ? Thank you again and good luck
You could add an external cup to catch rain, and have the guttering at a slope and then some drain holes in it, then have the rain water captured from the cup outside travel down the guttering and out. That would keep rehydrating the floor. Would just be a balance of the size of the capture cup and the inlet hole to get the hydration level right.
Another terrifically informative video Phil. It's great to be able to hear and discuss debatable Innovations like the eco floor. I love it when these innovations are proven generally and become a standard don't you? Cheers mate
Phil why don't you run the gutter out passed the hive to collect some rain water. You could even throw afew drainage holes in the middle to combat over soakage.
How do you get a seal between the follower board and the eco-floor? Can bees crawl under the bottom of the follower board to the part of the hive that's not in use by the bees?
Great info thank you for sharing your expertise, I did have one question with the eco-floor have you ever had a mite problem or do the fall into the shavings and die?
Hello again Phil, great videos! Keep them coming. I learn so much. How is this eco floor going and does it work? Food for thought. Why not simply place long size appropriate flower pot below the eco floor or place it on the ground? Is your eco floor working?
Hi Timothy, it is still a work in progress, but it does appear to be better than either a solid or a mesh floor, both in terms of insulation and humidity control. Lots of experiments ahead.
A peaked roof with simple ridge and soffit vents are surprisingly effective in full sun Texas heat. An air gap over the bsrs will be a better thermal barrier than any solid insulation. Probably not necessary in your neck of the woods though!
Thanks very much Phil. I'm getting my first package of bees this coming weekend and I'm about a nervous wreck. Will be watching your top bar videos all week, as the only hive I've ever had was a Langsroth, and I hated it. I'm a small woman, and trying to lift those boxes was impossible. I've never done a top bar hive before. Is there any reason why I can't use pvc pond liner instead of the roofing gutter?
Hello Phil, I'm a friend of Les Crowder's in New Mexico, (though he's moved on to California), and I've used his hive design exclusively, but I'm intrigued by your eco-floor. Here where it is hot and dry, for the most part, in the summer, I'm wondering if the wood would just dry out all the more. Would it still be beneficial? And I often have to transfer comb - say to give a queenless hive some eggs from which to raise a queen. I'm wondering if the height of individual combs would be inconsistent as the eco-floor subsides differently in different hives? Do you refill them with debris periodically? Too many questions? I've enjoyed your books, and I'm going to start working on a Crowder-Chandler hybrid hive this weekend.
Hi Phil, first, thanks for providing all this information, I love it! I'm building a top-bar hive from your book, but may I ask a couple of questions please? 1) Is the gutter the floor of the hive, or is there mesh/wood beneath it? 2) Do you still recommend centre entrances for a first hive (the A pattern), or should I do things the B pattern way (three holes at either end?) 3) Do you recommend periscope entrances, or is that something to avoid unless there's a particular problem with wasps? Thanks! PS I'm in the UK if it makes a difference.
Hi Gary, thanks for your questions. 1. The gutter is indeed the floor. There are small holes drilled for drainage, but no mesh. 2. I prefer the B pattern, as it makes it clear where the brood will be, and where you will find honey. 3. Periscope entrances work well and seem to do a great job keeping wasps at bay. Whether they are worth having if you don't have a wasp problem, difficult to say. They do seem to help retain humidity, but sometimes you may find bees bearding in an effort to reduce humidity, so it depends on your local climate.
Just wondering Phil, what's the thinking behind the width increase of the bars to 38mm. Do you still have different width bars for honeys stores & brood? I enjoy your books & whole philosophy on bee keeping. Thanks.
My understanding is that SHB larvae leave the hive to pupate in the soil. If there were a population of predatory mites, such as Stratiolelaps, and of course earwigs, living in the eco-floor, they would be happy to snack on them, should the larvae attempt to pupate within the floor material.
There is also the possibility of developing a strain of the entopathogenic fungus, Beauveria bassiana to selectively attack SHB. We don't have SHB yet in the UK, so someone over there needs to do these experiments.
@@BarefootBeekeeper True, but its going to be a very long time until any of that comes to fruition. Until then the best advice is to salt the earth under the hives or seal it away from the larvae in some other way and keep chickens, which love them.
Ruthann, I live In Southwest Mississippi and I ordered a top bar hive today. I am going to try and educate myself and get my bees in the spring. What do you suggest for the bottom of the hive and should I salt the earth beneath it? I haven’t heard anyone else say this.
Thank you for uploading! I really appreciate these "this is how I personally do it" type of videos. I'm a novice beekeeper in my third season and built my TBH's based on information from Your and Les Crowder books. One thing I have been seeing with my hives, is the low entrances tend to get clogged up with dead bees in the winter/early spring. I need to be keeping an eye on them at that time. I was wondering if you have ever had similar issues?
Phil, Thank you for all your work on top bar hives. Ive watched all your videos and have built a top bar hive incorporating many of your great suggestions including a hinged roof, the ecofloor and a periscope entrance. What are your thoughts on the periscope entrance today? My original entrance I believe to be too high and an invitation to predators so I added the periscope as a bandaid fix as we call it here in the states. Also on this video it sounded like your eco floor has a solid bottom in the guttering vs. the screened version previously? Your thoughts on these would be much appreciated. Thank you again
The periscope entrance seems to be effective at keeping wasps out of a hive. In warmer climates, additional ventilation at floor level may be needed, as it does restrict airflow when crowded with bees, but this has never caused any real problems, only some bearding on hot days. My current iteration of the eco floor used guttering, as the air flow through open mesh was found to dry out the floor material too quickly.
Thank you for your quick response. We have thoroughly enjoyed your videos. I think wasps and hornets are a problem here in northeast Missouri. Originally I baited my new KTBH and had some honey bee scout activity for a week. A steady stream of scouts came and went. In that period I also had ants and observed some type of hornet looking into the entrance. Two days later all the bees were gone. That’s when I added the periscope entrance and rebaited with 2:1 lemongrass and geranium oils as well as some more old comb I scraped out of a used Langstroth frame I got from a local beekeeper. Our swarm season here may be over but we had a late spring and it’s been very raining for months and just now drying out. I’m hoping this may lengthen swarm season? Your thoughts and insight on this matter are most appreciated.
@@stephendoyle1153 here I have noticed that an extended cool or wet period is often followed immediately by swarms, as if they are waiting for better conditions, which is probably exactly what they are doing. Swarm season is now about over here, but there may still be the odd one.
Thanks Phil, very interesting. I Will move the first step in beeworld next year. I'm a builder with Natural materials and I would like to build an insulated beehive with straw and earth. Have you got any suggestion? The gap at the edges of the hive you're describing anyway do not insulate because it's not the air gap that insulate but are insulating materials containing very small 'air bubble'.
What keeps the bees from going through the space/gap at the top where there are no top bars and down to the divider hole without passing throuh the entrance holes?
As I understand the idea of eco-floor, the point is to make hive floor with the same material as the natural ground in your area, so that the organisms that live there get closer to the bees.
Hi Phil, my TBH has entrance holes at the end of the hive. In your experience which works best - on the side or ends? Also, is it possible to use two follower boards with the entrance holes at the end, or does this confuse the bees?
I prefer side entrances, near the ends, for multiple reasons that I have elaborated on elsewhere, but mainly because you can use tandem followers/dividers. If you use an end entrance you can only use a single follower, unless you have some kind of foyer arrangement, but I'm not sure why you would do so.
Thanks so much for these videos Phil, I'm new to this and in the local association nearly everyone is using national hives but I'm going to begin with a top bar hive. With nationals they talk about the importance of inspecting the floor for evidence of varroa mites to gauge how infected the hive may be. What do you think about this in the context of a hive with an eco floor?
The thinking is that the eco-floor will provide habitat for earwigs and other predators of mites, which will keep their numbers down. I gave up counting mites years ago, as it didn't seem to provide any useful information.
By "notch" do you mean the oval hole for a Porter escape? That should normally be closed, unless the board is being used to clear a super for honey extraction. Ventilation above the entrance is unnecessary and makes more work for the bees. Nobody ventilates hollow trees!
Thanks for the vid Phil. I've been using your methods for my first htbh , it's all going great so far. I'm using the same hive as in this vid and I'm using the eco floor also. I made a vid of my first full Inspection ( edited) here's the link ruclips.net/video/2F2iESj9Lpg/видео.html , although i had done end Inspections it was such a relief to know i can actually do the full inspection. I feel I might be getting towards being a beekeeper.
Hi Phil, Thank you for sharing. I have seen in other of your videos that you place the entrance higher than you have in this hive. You mentioned that is was a more effective for preventing varroa falling over bees entering inside the hive. I can see that in this hive you have the entrance at the bottom. Is it something you have reconsidered to having the entrance at the top? And once again thank you for sharing your experience
My thinking was that if bees entered at a higher level, there would be less chance of them picking up mites from the floor. I have not been able to prove that theory - indeed, it was only a thought I had one day - so it remains as a proposition that others are welcome to challenge. Meanwhile, the "periscope entrance" is an option that some have adopted with success against wasps and hornets, if not mites.
Bees LOVE sheep poop that has dried out and has begun to decompose for an eco floor. To keep it from drying out I mix in Fall leaves collected in the spring after the snow melts from under the Aspen trees at the bank of our stream. The leaves have a strong sweet smelling odor of decay. This mix is moist and lasting (and my sheep produce the main component by the ton!). I don’t know why they love it but they instantly settle and remain calm as I get into the hive. I make my own shellac so I have started coating the scorched insides fo the hives I’ve been building. I need to get several of these hives going on my own property before I can convince other beekeepers of the benefits. Thanks for sharing…as a member of the Newbie Tribe I appreciate all of your videos! This last Summer we had a six week ‘heat dome’ when our usual 80-90F weather went on to 117F (48C) for over six weeks. It was disastrous for crops, bees and wildlife and we even had to hire an emergency shearing for our sheep. Normally we get about 105F for just a few days in August.
Great information.thanks. I just built a top bar hive using 2 x 12 from my local sawmill. According to him 2" equals 12" of insulation. Torched it inside and out and tung oiled outside, neat idea. For the eco floor i inserted a length of pvc pipe with holes drilled in it,capped on one end, the other end went through the hive with a hose attachment for easy watering.
I look forward to hearing more!
So how is it working out?
Phil, nice Video. Firstly I like your comments regarding the flooring. You comment and say “it’s a matter of debate” which is like a breath of fresh air! Thanks for being honest and discussing this in a way that is constructive! I am not a top bar hiver but this is really interesting with good additional content.
There is certainly a lot we can learn from each other, no mater what type of bee hives we keep. It’s all about sharing knowledge and being open and honest!
Secondly I am gonna send you a tripod!!😉🐝🐝🐝
Thanks Richard!
Great to see more about eco floor usage. Among my beekeeping fellows out here, a lot of talk about interior prep and exterior prep too. From wax dipping to tung oil coating and in one case a friend stapling window screening on the interior walls to encourage propolization of the surfaces. One supply outfit here is offering boxes what have been roughened up mechanically to encourage bees to propolize. I think the torching is a great idea! Thank you again. I have shared this vid with my club out here.
Thanks, George!
I take a wire wheel on the inside of my hives as to rough up the wood which seems to encourage the bees to add more propolis to the inside of the hive.
That's one approach, although it would increase the surface area of the wood fibres and therefore increase its water absorbency, making more work for the bees to do. I prefer to reduce absorbency and create a relatively water-repellent surface, which is what the bees do when they add propolis.
Hi, Phil. Just wanted to let you know that my eco-floors (based on your design, and installed in my first ever hives) are full of earwigs now as you predicted. So far so good. Excited to see how it goes. Wanted to pass it on.
Great - let me know how it goes.
Many thanks Phil. I like the plastic gutter holding your eco floor, it must really help the litter from drying so fast.
It certainly helps. The first version had mesh underneath and it dried out too quickly.
"Eco Floor", also known as "The Small Hive Beetle Hotel" here in Florida.
As usual, fascinating and comprehensive upload Phil, thank you. Would thicker timber all round offer more stable thermal insulation do you think? You mentioned insulation - straw, for example - in the voids at the ends of the hive, yet I imagine the far greater surface area of the long sides compromise thermal stability more. OTOH, the ubiquitous Langstroth hives in the colder climes of North America at 20mm wall thickness (0.78") seem to get the bees through those far, far colder winters than we ever encounter in the British Isles. BTW, as a nerd, may I ask what that device is on your wrist?
The sides matter less, as they are only close to the ends of the combs, and there is a natural air gap of 6-8mm. The wrist device is the bluetooth remote for my camera.
Timber is not an insulating material, therefore if you want a higher level of insulation you should use straw (as you suggested) or cork
You could make that gutter a bit longer so it sticks out a bit. Put a removable lid on it. Now when the floor is drying out pop off the lid and water. Guttering holds water too well so a few small drain holes at the bottom will ensure that a flush of water is absorbed by floor material but also drained out quickly. A bigger hole at desired level for flood control of course :-)
Not a bad idea, although it would already be possible to do that by adding water within the hive, as I leave a 4 inch gap between the end wall and the first divider/follower.
Hello there, thank you so much for giving such amazing informations about how you mange your beehives,
But there is a question in my mind which is how you treat the bottom of the beehive box during the cold or winter ?
Thank you again and good luck
Love the idea of the gutter
You could add an external cup to catch rain, and have the guttering at a slope and then some drain holes in it, then have the rain water captured from the cup outside travel down the guttering and out. That would keep rehydrating the floor. Would just be a balance of the size of the capture cup and the inlet hole to get the hydration level right.
Another terrifically informative video Phil. It's great to be able to hear and discuss debatable Innovations like the eco floor. I love it when these innovations are proven generally and become a standard don't you? Cheers mate
Phil why don't you run the gutter out passed the hive to collect some rain water. You could even throw afew drainage holes in the middle to combat over soakage.
I will soon have my first bees in 2021. Do you have plans on how to build your hive?
I'm setting up my TBHs with eco floors, but what do you do to control SHB without a screened bottom?
How do you get a seal between the follower board and the eco-floor? Can bees crawl under the bottom of the follower board to the part of the hive that's not in use by the bees?
Great info thank you for sharing your expertise, I did have one question with the eco-floor have you ever had a mite problem or do the fall into the shavings and die?
Hello again Phil, great videos! Keep them coming. I learn so much. How is this eco floor going and does it work? Food for thought. Why not simply place long size appropriate flower pot below the eco floor or place it on the ground? Is your eco floor working?
Hi Timothy, it is still a work in progress, but it does appear to be better than either a solid or a mesh floor, both in terms of insulation and humidity control. Lots of experiments ahead.
A peaked roof with simple ridge and soffit vents are surprisingly effective in full sun Texas heat. An air gap over the bsrs will be a better thermal barrier than any solid insulation. Probably not necessary in your neck of the woods though!
I understand that keeping the heat out of your hives is a bigger issue than keeping it in!
That's very true, although it does help with Small Hive Beetles which might even be more of a threat in some areas of the Southern USA than Varroa.
Thanks very much Phil. I'm getting my first package of bees this coming weekend and I'm about a nervous wreck. Will be watching your top bar videos all week, as the only hive I've ever had was a Langsroth, and I hated it. I'm a small woman, and trying to lift those boxes was impossible. I've never done a top bar hive before. Is there any reason why I can't use pvc pond liner instead of the roofing gutter?
How much honey are you harvesting a year per hive?
Hello Phil, I'm a friend of Les Crowder's in New Mexico, (though he's moved on to California), and I've used his hive design exclusively, but I'm intrigued by your eco-floor. Here where it is hot and dry, for the most part, in the summer, I'm wondering if the wood would just dry out all the more. Would it still be beneficial? And I often have to transfer comb - say to give a queenless hive some eggs from which to raise a queen. I'm wondering if the height of individual combs would be inconsistent as the eco-floor subsides differently in different hives? Do you refill them with debris periodically? Too many questions? I've enjoyed your books, and I'm going to start working on a Crowder-Chandler hybrid hive this weekend.
Hi Phil, first, thanks for providing all this information, I love it! I'm building a top-bar hive from your book, but may I ask a couple of questions please?
1) Is the gutter the floor of the hive, or is there mesh/wood beneath it?
2) Do you still recommend centre entrances for a first hive (the A pattern), or should I do things the B pattern way (three holes at either end?)
3) Do you recommend periscope entrances, or is that something to avoid unless there's a particular problem with wasps?
Thanks!
PS I'm in the UK if it makes a difference.
Hi Gary, thanks for your questions.
1. The gutter is indeed the floor. There are small holes drilled for drainage, but no mesh.
2. I prefer the B pattern, as it makes it clear where the brood will be, and where you will find honey.
3. Periscope entrances work well and seem to do a great job keeping wasps at bay. Whether they are worth having if you don't have a wasp problem, difficult to say. They do seem to help retain humidity, but sometimes you may find bees bearding in an effort to reduce humidity, so it depends on your local climate.
@@BarefootBeekeeper thanks Phil!
Just wondering Phil, what's the thinking behind the width increase of the bars to 38mm. Do you still have different width bars for honeys stores & brood? I enjoy your books & whole philosophy on bee keeping. Thanks.
I found by experimentation that 38mm bars gave the most reliable results without cross-combing. I use that width throughout the hives now.
@@BarefootBeekeeper Thanks
The eco floor would not be good in most of the US. It would be a breeding ground for small hive beetle.
My understanding is that SHB larvae leave the hive to pupate in the soil. If there were a population of predatory mites, such as Stratiolelaps, and of course earwigs, living in the eco-floor, they would be happy to snack on them, should the larvae attempt to pupate within the floor material.
There is also the possibility of developing a strain of the entopathogenic fungus, Beauveria bassiana to selectively attack SHB. We don't have SHB yet in the UK, so someone over there needs to do these experiments.
@@BarefootBeekeeper
True, but its going to be a very long time until any of that comes to fruition. Until then the best advice is to salt the earth under the hives or seal it away from the larvae in some other way and keep chickens, which love them.
@@BarefootBeekeeper and rove beetles theyd be working for you too
Ruthann, I live In Southwest Mississippi and I ordered a top bar hive today. I am going to try and educate myself and get my bees in the spring. What do you suggest for the bottom of the hive and should I salt the earth beneath it? I haven’t heard anyone else say this.
Thank you for uploading! I really appreciate these "this is how I personally do it" type of videos. I'm a novice beekeeper in my third season and built my TBH's based on information from Your and Les Crowder books. One thing I have been seeing with my hives, is the low entrances tend to get clogged up with dead bees in the winter/early spring. I need to be keeping an eye on them at that time. I was wondering if you have ever had similar issues?
I haven't had that problem, but you could make a single hole higher up, which could be opened as an emergency exit if that were to happen.
Phil,
Thank you for all your work on top bar hives. Ive watched all your videos and have built a top bar hive incorporating many of your great suggestions including a hinged roof, the ecofloor and a periscope entrance. What are your thoughts on the periscope entrance today? My original entrance I believe to be too high and an invitation to predators so I added the periscope as a bandaid fix as we call it here in the states.
Also on this video it sounded like your eco floor has a solid bottom in the guttering vs. the screened version previously? Your thoughts on these would be much appreciated. Thank you again
The periscope entrance seems to be effective at keeping wasps out of a hive. In warmer climates, additional ventilation at floor level may be needed, as it does restrict airflow when crowded with bees, but this has never caused any real problems, only some bearding on hot days.
My current iteration of the eco floor used guttering, as the air flow through open mesh was found to dry out the floor material too quickly.
Thank you for your quick response. We have thoroughly enjoyed your videos.
I think wasps and hornets are a problem here in northeast Missouri. Originally I baited my new KTBH and had some honey bee scout activity for a week. A steady stream of scouts came and went.
In that period I also had ants and observed some type of hornet looking into the entrance. Two days later all the bees were gone. That’s when I added the periscope entrance and rebaited with 2:1 lemongrass and geranium oils as well as some more old comb I scraped out of a used Langstroth frame I got from a local beekeeper.
Our swarm season here may be over but we had a late spring and it’s been very raining for months and just now drying out. I’m hoping this may lengthen swarm season? Your thoughts and insight on this matter are most appreciated.
@@stephendoyle1153 here I have noticed that an extended cool or wet period is often followed immediately by swarms, as if they are waiting for better conditions, which is probably exactly what they are doing. Swarm season is now about over here, but there may still be the odd one.
Thanks Phil, very interesting. I Will move the first step in beeworld next year. I'm a builder with Natural materials and I would like to build an insulated beehive with straw and earth. Have you got any suggestion?
The gap at the edges of the hive you're describing anyway do not insulate because it's not the air gap that insulate but are insulating materials containing very small 'air bubble'.
I suggest cob as a potential hive material: clay and chopped straw.
@@BarefootBeekeeper ...and clay will help maintaing the right moisture :)
What keeps the bees from going through the space/gap at the top where there are no top bars and down to the divider hole without passing throuh the entrance holes?
The hole in the follower is normally plugged.
I would have guessed the wood is Western Red Cedar, and not Fir. Nitpicking I know...
It's Douglas fir, from my local sawmill.
Is the pine woodchips good for ecofloor ?
In Cyprus we have mastiha trees this trees produce gum with antibiotics we can also use this ?
As I understand the idea of eco-floor, the point is to make hive floor with the same material as the natural ground in your area, so that the organisms that live there get closer to the bees.
Hi Phil, my TBH has entrance holes at the end of the hive. In your experience which works best - on the side or ends? Also, is it possible to use two follower boards with the entrance holes at the end, or does this confuse the bees?
I prefer side entrances, near the ends, for multiple reasons that I have elaborated on elsewhere, but mainly because you can use tandem followers/dividers. If you use an end entrance you can only use a single follower, unless you have some kind of foyer arrangement, but I'm not sure why you would do so.
Kerry, I wonder if you could shorten the follower board or put some holes in it close to the bottom? Your post is 2 years old; what did you do?
Thanks so much for these videos Phil, I'm new to this and in the local association nearly everyone is using national hives but I'm going to begin with a top bar hive. With nationals they talk about the importance of inspecting the floor for evidence of varroa mites to gauge how infected the hive may be. What do you think about this in the context of a hive with an eco floor?
The thinking is that the eco-floor will provide habitat for earwigs and other predators of mites, which will keep their numbers down. I gave up counting mites years ago, as it didn't seem to provide any useful information.
Hi, Phil. A conventional hive has ventilation via the inner cover notch. What ventilation is in a top bar hive?
By "notch" do you mean the oval hole for a Porter escape? That should normally be closed, unless the board is being used to clear a super for honey extraction. Ventilation above the entrance is unnecessary and makes more work for the bees. Nobody ventilates hollow trees!
Thanks for the vid Phil.
I've been using your methods for my first htbh , it's all going great so far. I'm using the same hive as in this vid and I'm using the eco floor also. I made a vid of my first full Inspection ( edited) here's the link ruclips.net/video/2F2iESj9Lpg/видео.html , although i had done end Inspections it was such a relief to know i can actually do the full inspection. I feel I might be getting towards being a beekeeper.
Which spray works better vinegar or peppermint.?
I have not done a parallel test. They both work.
How much vinegar!, peppermint? Really appreciate all the information you post
Hi Phil,
Thank you for sharing. I have seen in other of your videos that you place the entrance higher than you have in this hive. You mentioned that is was a more effective for preventing varroa falling over bees entering inside the hive. I can see that in this hive you have the entrance at the bottom. Is it something you have reconsidered to having the entrance at the top?
And once again thank you for sharing your experience
My thinking was that if bees entered at a higher level, there would be less chance of them picking up mites from the floor. I have not been able to prove that theory - indeed, it was only a thought I had one day - so it remains as a proposition that others are welcome to challenge. Meanwhile, the "periscope entrance" is an option that some have adopted with success against wasps and hornets, if not mites.