Nicot Evolutive Plastic Entrance

This rigid plastic entrance gate is a simple yet highly effective solution for managing hive access. Specifically designed to fit the Nicot plastic bottom board (Dadant 10-frame format), it's especially useful on brood boxes where regulating the hive entrance is essential to prevent robbing, reduce drifting, and strengthen colony defense.

The gate comes fully closed, with 16 small circular holes of 8.5 mm. The beekeeper can manually remove the plugs to open as many entrances as needed. Once a hole is opened, it stays permanently open.

When and how many holes should be opened?

• For new swarms or freshly created splits, it's best to open only 2 to 4 holes. This minimizes the area the colony needs to defend while it's still weak, reducing the risk of robbing.
• In queen rearing hives, limiting the entrance to 1 or 2 holes helps prevent intrusion by foreign bees and gives you better control over queen activity.
• During times of nectar scarcity or environmental stress, keeping 3 to 5 holes open reduces robbing behavior among colonies.
• In times of heavy nectar flow or with strong colonies, you can open 10 or more holes to allow smooth forager traffic and prevent crowding at the entrance.

Installation and removal: Simply clip the gate into the dedicated slots on the Nicot bottom board. To remove it, lift one end to unclip it and slide it sideways to fully detach.

Technical specifications:
• Material: durable plastic
• Dimensions: 419 x 38 mm
• Weight: 58 g
• Compatible with Nicot plastic bottom board (Dadant 10-frame)

A practical, sturdy and adaptable tool that allows you to control hive entrance access based on your management needs, improving both colony protection and forager traffic efficiency.