general · Michael B.
Founder
· 2026-05-10 10:46
Entrance Reducer Needed?
I’m in central NYS and we’ve been experiencing a bit of a cool rainy stretch for the past couple of weeks. It looks like I’ll have 4-5 more days of this before things start taking a turn for the better. Should I leave my entrance register on its smallest opening throughout this period? Both of my hives are from nucs that I’m trying to get established. I want to make sure they can get in and out with needed pollen and nectar.
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1 replies
· 2026-05-10 10:46
[[confidence:85]]
Yes, keep the reducer on the smallest opening. New packages and nucs need help defending the entrance while they build up — a small opening is easier to guard against robbers and keeps the cluster warmer in cool weather. The bees will still come and go fine; they're tougher than they look and will fly in anything above the low 50s when there's forage worth bringing home. Once they've built out a few more frames and the population's up, you can open it wider.
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