The Beast Blocker - Entrance Protector/Reducer
Note: Colors May Vary
The Beast Blocker® we believe is the most effective entrance protector for your beehive, period. With the Beast Blocker® in place on the entrance to your hive you have:
• Stopped hornets and wasps from sneaking in and stealing honey and killing brood.
• Stopped robbing bees from overwhelming your guard bees and stealing honey.
• Stopped mice from moving in and eating honey, pollen, and beeswax.
• Minimized bee drift which can reintroduce varroa, so your varroa treatments stay effective for longer.
• Minimized bee drift which can introduce AFB and EFB.
• Stopped predator invasions which result in your guard bees doing their duty and dying to protect the hive. Over time, this can leave your hive defenseless and reduce your bee population.
• An easy and effective way to close the hive entrance so no bees can leave, while still having excellent front ventilation.
The Beast Blocker® works by training the bees in your hive to do a 90° turn when they exit the hive and leave by crawling up the front of the brood box. There is still ventilation along the front of the hive, so invaders still smell and hear the hive at the usual entrance but can’t get in along the front face.
NOTE: this product may not be suitable for all floor types. It is compatible with wooden floors.
Installation
The best time to install the Beast Blocker® is very early in the morning before the bees start flying.
The Beast Blocker® come with a translucent front plate, two colored entrance gates Note: Colors May Vary, which can swing and click fully open, or fully closed, (usually these are already in place) and a small bag with 7 screws, one screw is long and 6 are short. (Note that the front plate of the Beast Blocker® has “score marks” near each end of the base. If you have an 8-frame hive, cut the base plate at these score marks so that your Beast Blocker® will fit your 8-frame hive.)
Check that you have all the parts of the Beast Blocker® assembled (the left and right entrance gates are securely snapped into place) and the 7 screws provided, as well as a square drive screw driver, ready and to-hand.
- Get the one long screw out of the bag and loosely thread it into the center hole between the two entrance gates, until the sharp end is just poking through the center hole.
- With one hand, place the Beast Blocker® on the front of your hive, with the entrance gates at the top and the long base at the bottom. Make sure the gates are in the closed/down position to ensure they sit flush against the face of your hive while you install it.
- Make sure that the bottom grill of the plate is hard against the bottom along the landing board of the hive with no gaps.
- While holding the Beast Blocker® in place, screw the long/central screw into the front of your hive. It is important you start here and not the shorter screws on the side.
- Then use the 6 remaining shorter screws to finish screwing the Beast Blocker® in place securely using the 6 strategically supplied holes. Make sure the base plate and closer gates are flush against the super when screwing it in to ensure the gates can function as designed.
That’s it! During the day, the flying bees will soon learn that they need to make that 90° turn as they exit the hive, and they will orient themselves with the colored entrance gates to learn the new way into the hive. It won’t take them long to learn how to use the Beast Blocker®.
An interesting phenomenon that you may see with your Beast Blocker® in place, is the front of the hive covered in bees. You may have seen “bearding” happen with your hive before. On hot days, a mass of bees form a hanging beard from the front landing board to reduce the heat load in the hive and to keep themselves cool. However, with a Beast Blocker® in place, they don’t “beard” they form a “plume” above the entrance! So don’t be alarmed, they are just cooling off. Late in the day and early evening they will move back inside their hive.