Do you want to discover how to build an underfloor entrance for your beehive? This blog post will detail the full process on how to build an underfloor entrance from start to finish.
When I took on the new apiary last year I was warned there was a large headache that came with the site - wasps! Always looking for something to solve a issue and and save a little money I needed something to assist with the problem, along with giving me some new floors that were needed.
My mentor was the first to tell me about the under floor entrance and gave me a copy of a magazine that had an article about them. Being slightly younger and knowing that the internet can provide all these days, it wasn't long before I found the BMH video on the same thing, so with 2 reliable sources of information I set to the task of building some underfloor entrances.
As we head into another season and I have need for further hives, another batch of floors is needed. Having seen recent posts on Facebook about the under floor entrance and with lots of interest from people, I thought this would be a good opportunity for me to talk you through just how simple these are to build.
Why under floor entrances?
As I have previously mentioned, wasps are a real pain to beekeepers, so with only a single bee space (8mm) as an entrance, this gives gives the bees an easier to defend entrance. Another issue that is overcome is the need for mouse guards as the narrow entrance will mean that it is next to impossible for them to get in. With many people having out apiaries, having equipment that stacks for transport and storage is a great thing, yet another plus for these floors is the integrated landing board within the footprint of the hive. Lastly, they are cheap and easy to build!
So here it is, my very own Ikea under floor entrance. What I will say at this point, I am using what wood I have left over from a fencing job! You really can use what you have to hand, but if you're getting timber in then I would go for a 4 inch gravel board. This is what was used for the last batch I made. All you need to remember is that your finished floor needs to be the same size as your brood box and remember measure twice and cut once!!
As with any equipment that you make yourself, there can be variations, this batch will be made with varroa trays.
Parts List
A. Varroa tray and mesh
B. Varroa tray runners
C. Back Bar
D. Front Vertical
E. Landing board and Front top.
F. Side Bars
G. 8mm spacer.
As I'm building for commercial brood boxes the measurement I am aiming for is 465mm, therefore part F is required to be 465mm long with any parts that will need to go between (C,D &E) will need to be 465mm - the width of 2 lengths of F (side bars). This way you will end up at the correct width and length. If you are building for Nationals, just replace the 465mm dimension with 460mm.
If you do not require Varroa slides under your hive then all you will require is 2 x D, 2 and 2 x F.
(see Black mountain Honey video lower in this blog)
How I put my underfloor entrances together
If your attaching thicker wood to thinner, like we are here it pays to pre-drill the wood it will help to stop the wood splitting. Once you have attached the front vertical and the landing board together you can set this to one side. Take you two side bars (F), back bar (C) and the front top (E). Lay these out as below and fix them in place, these need to be flush with the ends and face of the side bars.
Now take the landing board and front vertical that was fixed together earlier and slot it in upfront. Take your 8mm spacer to insure that you leave a bee space so the bees can come and go. An M8 bolt or mm drill bit will have the same affect, screw this all in place nice and tight.
Looking at the picture below you can see that the 2 varroa tray runners have been installed.
Fix the varroa mesh to the floor ensuring that you don't cover the entrance. I use 18g staples in my nail gun to fix them in place, but several small screws will also work well. I also like to cut the varroa mesh so the brood box is sitting straight onto the wood.
Varroa tray is slid in, fixing a line of wood to the rear of the board will give you something to get hold off, you can also turn it the other way up to seal the floor up. Below you will see the link to Laurence's great video showing all the different variations on building the floors along with some great stills and pictures showing dimensions.
Detailed below are the cutting plans from the video for anyone who is making these for national hives:
