Black Friday Offer - All UD Purchases come with a FREE Copy of 2024 Edition of UD Hive Intrance Book
The Upstairs Downstairs (UD) Starter Kit contains a 25mm Saw-toothed drill bit to construct the exact sized holes to install UD components to convert any single walled hive to the Upstairs Downstairs System! With the Starter kit you can convert any number of hives with the addition of further Add-on kits, or convert 5 hives total with the Bulk kit.
The entrance size is critical for colony health, defence, and pest management.
Bees are adept in maintaining their own environment, maintaining the conditions where they thrive, and the UD system is to mirror how a bee nest would naturally occur.
- Provides a 360-degree outer entrance to repel Wasps and the Asian Hornet
- The Intrance creates a 7mm Bee Space to prevent entry by rodents and reptiles.
- Decreased aggression/ defensive behaviour
- Containing a series of bungs and vents to control the passage of air into the hive. Important as our climate becomes increasingly more erratic with colder winters.
- Easier hive ventilation without having to open the hive.
- Prevents Hives from becoming Varroa breeding grounds by maintaining warm and humid conditions.
- Makes ‘Cold Way’ warm with all the benefits of storage and pollen collection.
- Increased hive volume without loss of foraging efficiency.
- Simple method to close hives for transportation and hive treatments.
- Easily adaptable to a two-queen colony.
Above all, the system is quick to install, easy to scale, and inexpensive.
The videos below document 1) how the UD system is composed of a basement box and closing of all other sources of ventilation 2) how comfortable bees are with rounded entrances evidenced by how easily they repel the invading wasp!