Stainless Steel Rotating Entrance Disc 68mm - 4 Position

A Four-Position Hive Entrance Disc: Open, Excluder, Vent or Shut

Entrance management is the cheapest hive management there is, and most of us do it with a bit of wood and some gaffer tape. Hiving a swarm and hoping it stays. Moving a nuc with a strip of foam jammed in the entrance. Shutting a hive while the neighbour sprays. Each one is a different improvised fix, usually done in the dark with a torch in your teeth.

This rotating entrance disc does all of it with a single screw and a quarter turn. It is 68mm across, made from stainless steel so it will not rust or go brittle in the sun the way plastic discs do, and it gives you four positions: open, queen excluder, ventilation and closed. It is worth fitting one to every nuc you own.

The Four Positions and When to Use Them

Open is for everyday foraging. Excluder lets workers through but holds the queen, which is the setting for the first few days after hiving a swarm so the colony cannot abscond. Ventilation shuts the entrance to bees but lets air move, for shifting a hive at night or holding it closed while something gets sprayed nearby. Closed is for an empty box in storage, or a few minutes while you move a hive a short distance.

Why Stainless Rather Than Plastic

Plastic discs work for a season or two. Then the sun gets into them, the tabs snap off and the disc either spins freely or jams. Stainless sits flat, turns when you want it to, holds its position and does not care about rain, frost or a west-facing wall in February.

Fitting It, and What It Is Not For

It fits over a round entrance hole of roughly 25 to 30mm, with one screw or nail through the centre so the disc can turn. That suits nuc boxes, mating nucs, poly hives and any brood box with a drilled upper entrance. It will not cover the wide slot of a standard Langstroth bottom board on its own, so on a full-sized hive pair it with an entrance block drilled to suit.

Do not leave the excluder position on for more than a few days. Drones cannot get out through it, and a pile of dead drones in the entrance is a worse problem than the one you were solving. Open it before a virgin queen needs to fly to mate.

Specifications

• Diameter: 68mm (6.8cm)
• Material: stainless steel
• Positions: fully open, queen excluder, ventilation, closed
• Fixing: one screw or nail through the centre, so the disc can rotate
• Suits: round entrance holes on nuc boxes, mating nucs, poly hives and drilled upper entrances
• Sold: singly

What are the four positions?

Fully open, queen excluder, ventilation and closed. Each is selected with a quarter turn of the disc.

What size is the disc?

It is 68mm (6.8cm) across and made from stainless steel.

What entrance hole does it fit?

A round entrance hole of roughly 25 to 30mm, with one screw or nail through the centre so the disc can turn.

Will it fit a standard Langstroth bottom board entrance?

Not on its own, as it will not cover the wide slot. On a full-sized hive, pair it with an entrance block drilled to suit.

Which hives is it suited to?

Nuc boxes, mating nucs, poly hives and any brood box with a drilled upper entrance.

When should I use the queen excluder position?

For the first few days after hiving a swarm, so the colony cannot abscond. Do not leave it on for more than a few days.

Why not leave the excluder position on?

Drones cannot get out through it, and a pile of dead drones at the entrance is a worse problem. Open it before a virgin queen needs to fly to mate.

What does the ventilation position do?

It shuts the entrance to bees but lets air move, for shifting a hive at night or holding it closed while something nearby is sprayed.

Why stainless steel instead of plastic?

Stainless will not rust or go brittle in the sun, and it sits flat and holds its position, while plastic tabs can snap and the disc can spin freely or jam.

How is it sold?

It is sold singly, one disc per order.