More information:

All the information of hive management and improving bee health fails to identify the issues regarding a nest (hive) entrance that is too large

Conclusion:

The design of the Langstroth floor/entrance was problematic for the following simple reasons:

• It directs all bee movements through the already congested brood box;
• The entrance is indefensible;
• Its size is hard for the beekeeper to manage.

Upstairs/Downstairs Intrance advantages:

• Easier for the colony to defend against wasps, moths, Varroa and rodents, with wasps being totally excluded in our trials
• Provides 360° defence for guard bees.
• Decreased aggression/defensive behaviour
• Easier hive ventilation without having to open the hives to check roof meshes and clean
• Simple method to close hives for transportation, to keep colonies in or while applying treatments.
• Improved use of brood comb for laying given improved; thermoregulatory effect.
• Simple method to ‘bank’, mate and develop several queens in one colony.
• Vastly simpler method of making an increase without the need to add a work force and transferring frames.
• Improved uniting and potential maintenance of two queen colonies
• Increased hive volume without loss of foraging efficiency.
• Resembles an entrance that the bees would create in the wild. Honey bees have evolved strategies to closely regulate the internal environment of their nest cavities through heating, cooling:
  • Makes ‘Cold Way’ Warm (Sword and Shield) with all its benefits for the storage of pollen and honey;
  • Exit for drones above the queen excluder.

UD Hive trial in Africa