Screens for bottom boards

[flyboy]

What are you using for bottom board screens? I want to make a new one that has an open area with a removeable tray for easy inspection.

I am assuming screen door screen would be too small.

[mikecva]

There are several around, different designs function slightly different so build to suit your needes
 Mann Lake's: $ 28.95
Brushy Mountain Bee Farm's: $ 17.95

 good luck  -Mike

[danno]

Just use #8 galv. wire.   Thats  8 holes to one inch.   Most, myself included are drifting away from screen bottom boards

[drjeseuss]

I still like the screen for a variety of reasons, particularly in warmer months. IPM, humidity, etc are good reasons to use one, though I also notice the screen can let things in that otherwise wouldn't have been there in the first place. Around me #8 screen isn't available. Several online bee stores sell by the foot. I made one using two layers of 1/4" screen perfectly offset to give the proper spacing. Having done that once I'd order #8 online next time. It was a real pain using 1/4" stuff. Window screen is too small and blocks mites and shb from falling through, while 1/4" would make the bottom virtually open allowing most anything in or out, not good.

[AliciaH]

Most, myself included are drifting away from screen bottom boards

I wonder if this is a location thing?  I love my screened bottom boards!  Mold inside the hives is a huge problem for Western WA during winter.  With the mite board in, the SBB lets enough air in to better ventilate and move the moist air back out.  If I'm worried about too much air flow, I put the entire hive on a solid base. 

I still have some hives on reversible bottom boards and the difference in how much more moisture is in the hive is significant.  Yes, I have ventilation at the tops, but the solid bottoms seem to absorb (and hold) so much moisture that it just seems to get out of hand.

In the summer, they (combined with a screened inner cover) helps keep the hives cool.  It's one of the easiest modifications I can make to help keep swarming down a bit.

[RHBee]

I use #6 mesh for SHB control. Oil trays underneath.

[BlueBee]

I buy #8 mesh “hardware cloth” (ie screen) from a bee supply house and staple it onto a bottom board.  It’s heavier duty material than window screen and easier to work with IMO.  Window screen has smaller holes than you really want.

I have been adding more screened bottoms to my bee hives and nucs.  They’re good for monitoring mites, vaporizers, and in the case of nucs…experimenting with a little electric heat if you want.  I don’t use mine for ventilation.

[BeeMaster2]

I have SBB and STB on every hive I have. Only the nucs do not have them. I get my #8 from an old hardware store in town. They sell it by linear foot, it is 3' wide.
Jim

[capt44]

I still use the screened bottom boards on some of my hives but I am going back to a solid bottom board.
I tried screened bottom boards for around 4 years but I still had to treat for varroa mites and small hive beetles.
I also found that the bees will fill out the bottom of the frames in the lower deep box using solid bottom boards.

[drjeseuss]

I also found that the bees will fill out the bottom of the frames in the lower deep box using solid bottom boards.
[/quote

I use both a screen bottom and a slatted rack and they fill in the frames well. This was not true before I added the slatted rack.

[flyboy]

Hi Drjeseuse,
What's a slatted rack?

[AliciaH]

I also found that the bees will fill out the bottom of the frames in the lower deep box using solid bottom boards.
[/quote

I use both a screen bottom and a slatted rack and they fill in the frames well. This was not true before I added the slatted rack.

If you have extra mediums and put new frames and foundation in, that works well under the first brood box, too. 

Flyboy:  Either option gives the foragers a place to hang out and reduces congestion in the brood areas.

[marktrl]

I make my own, but this is it:
Slatted rack

[Moots]

Just use #8 galv. wire.   Thats  8 holes to one inch.   Most, myself included are drifting away from screen bottom boards

Agree....Use #8

and

Agree....I've also moved away from SBB.  In fact, my time with them was very short lived.  Personally, they struck me as a lot more trouble than they were worth and it seemed that the majority of folks I talked to had given them a try but were moving back to Solid Bottom boards.

[richter1978]

I have SBB and STB on every hive I have. Only the nucs do not have them. I get my #8 from an old hardware store in town. They sell it by linear foot, it is 3' wide.
Jim

Jim, would that be Currie Thomas?  I'd love to buy some #8 locally.

The screened bottom with an oil tray kills a lot of beetles!

[alfred]

I really like using them. Here is a pic of one of mine:

Hey how do I post a pic??
 I know that I have done it before...

 Well a pic of my sbb is in this thread:
http://forum.beemaster.com/index.php/topic,29234.msg230414.html#msg230414

Alfred

[BeeMaster2]

I have SBB and STB on every hive I have. Only the nucs do not have them. I get my #8 from an old hardware store in town. They sell it by linear foot, it is 3' wide.
Jim

Jim, would that be Currie Thomas?  I'd love to buy some #8 locally.

The screened bottom with an oil tray kills a lot of beetles!

No, it is
Paschal Brothers Hardware Co
1118 Myrtle Avenue North
Jacksonville, FL 32204

(904) 354-3566
Jim

[richter1978]

I have SBB and STB on every hive I have. Only the nucs do not have them. I get my #8 from an old hardware store in town. They sell it by linear foot, it is 3' wide.
Jim

Jim, would that be Currie Thomas?  I'd love to buy some #8 locally.

The screened bottom with an oil tray kills a lot of beetles!

No, it is
Paschal Brothers Hardware Co
1118 Myrtle Avenue North
Jacksonville, FL 32204

(904) 354-3566
Jim

Thank you.

[BeeMaster2]

No problem Rich.

[flntknpr]

I got a 50' roll of #8 mesh screen, 24" wide from Ace hardware.  They dropped the price from the usual $4/foot to $50 for the entire roll. 

[BeeMaster2]

Rich,
I called Paschal. 24" x100' roll is $130. if you order it. They sell 36" by the foot at $2.29 per foot or $199 for the roll. Not that much of a savings. Might want to check with Ace. If you find it at $50 for a 24" roll and want to go halves on it let me know.
Jim

[KD4MOJ]

I checked all the Ace stores in town and the smallest is 1/4". You can order it from the website to be picked up at the store but it's $105 for 50ft.

...DOUG
KD4MOJ

[Intheswamp]

http://www.amazon.com/308182B-24-Inch-100-Foot-8-Inch-Hardware/dp/B0009H53LU/ref=sr_1_11?ie=UTF8&qid=1402753011&sr=8-11&keywords=8+hardware+cloth

$110 and free shipping 24"x100' 27ga 1/8" mesh on Amazon

I don't know if that's what you're looking for or not, check it and see if will work for ya'll.  ?

Ed

[flyboy]

Went to the local Home Hardware saw 1/8" screen, however it was galvanized so I was not so sure it was a good idea. Galvanizing is poisonous.

http://www.finishing.com/71/64.shtml

[Intheswamp]

Er, probably 99.999999999999999999999% of the screened bottom boards use galvanized hardware cloth.  The other option is some specialty stainless steel or aluminum grids.  O.J. Blunt down below Andalusia, Alabama  was at one time selling sheets of stainless steel with round holes in it which were just about the perfect size for SHB.  A couple of years ago he was selling the hive sized sheets for $15 each, which was inline with the price of the full sheets from the original vendor.  He might still be selling them.  Oj's an interesting fellow, I went to a bee meeting at his house a few years ago...he definitely loves bees!!!

Ed

[jayj200]

most of the time they don't know what #8 is
1/8" per hole or 8 holes to the inch
window screen
is 18/14 way smaller than 1/8 inch. fiber glass the girls will eat! other critters too!
aluminum possibly could not tolerate skunks.  or monkeys running amuck under the hive.
stick with #8 hardware cloth, it is galvanized steel. tough as iron
jay