Beemaster's International Beekeeping Forum

BEEKEEPING LEARNING CENTER => GENERAL BEEKEEPING - MAIN POSTING FORUM. => Topic started by: tillie on June 22, 2006, 01:04:59 am

Title: What a difference the slatted rack makes!
Post by: tillie on June 22, 2006, 01:04:59 am
Well, I'm a believer.  I put a slatted rack on one hive and not on the other.  The second hive's rack came broken and the replacement just arrived today.  I'll put it on this weekend.

Here's the hive at 11:40 PM without the slatted rack:

http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/6269/2875/640/DSC01295.jpg

Here's the other hive at 11:40 PM WITH the slatted rack

http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/6269/2875/640/DSC01296.jpg

Granted, they both have beards, but the one with the rack used to be the largest and now it is much thinner and more spread out.  I've done everything I know of to ventilate - propped the top, SBB, room in the super and now slatted rack.  Since beards go with this hot drought we are having in Atlanta, I'm not too worried, but I'm a believer going forward in the slatted rack -

Thanks, Brian, TWT and others for the encouragement to go this direction.

Linda T in Atlanta
where it is 82 degrees at midnight with a high tomorrow expected of 97 - never knew I would care so much about the weather.
Title: What a difference the slatted rack makes!
Post by: TwT on June 22, 2006, 11:25:19 am
tillie, nice pic's, a SBB works wonders also if you ever want to try them out....I have SBB and BB and use the slatted racks on the BB.... give them a try one day...
Title: What a difference the slatted rack makes!
Post by: tillie on June 22, 2006, 12:55:56 pm
Yes, I like the screened BB - I have that on both hives as well.  I have tried everything to provide more ventilation.  

I have the top propped up with a stick on both hives and the bees tend to use it as a backdoor.

I have a screened bottom board on both hives and above it the slatted rack on the one hive, but I'll add a SR to the other hive tomorrow when I'm not working all day long.

Linda T in HOTlanta - 97 will be the high today!   And no rain.
Title: What a difference the slatted rack makes!
Post by: TwT on June 22, 2006, 01:25:34 pm
thats right, I forgot you already had SBB's... ;)
Title: What a difference the slatted rack makes!
Post by: Jerrymac on June 22, 2006, 01:33:46 pm
Linda T in HOTlanta,

It must also have something to do with the humidity and over night temps. I use only screened bottoms. No racks, No other entrances but the bottom, and I have never had bearding. The past couple of weeks have been in the 100's but we are in a dry area. Also our night time temps drop into the mid to upper 60's at night.
Title: What a difference the slatted rack makes!
Post by: melliphile on June 22, 2006, 04:29:12 pm
Just curious,  do the slats run front to back(like the frames), or side to side?
Title: What a difference the slatted rack makes!
Post by: TwT on June 22, 2006, 04:53:44 pm
Quote from: melliphile
Just curious,  do the slats run front to back(like the frames), or side to side?


the one I bought was from Betterbee, I built the others I have from the measurement from that one, it runs with the frames not across them like the older type did...
Title: What a difference the slatted rack makes!
Post by: Brian D. Bray on June 22, 2006, 10:01:35 pm
Redesigning the slatted rack so that the slats run the same way as the frames is best, it works very well with the SBB so that the parasites fall through.  

I recommend the slatted rack highly.  I find it one of my most versitle tools.  Swarm control, ventilation, extra room to reduce bearding, in place of a queen excluder, and as a base to set feeder cans on.
Title: What a difference the slatted rack makes!
Post by: tillie on June 23, 2006, 12:39:20 am
I bought mine from Betterbee and it has the racks running in line with the frames.  With the racks running in line with the frames it seems as if it will not interfere with the SBB as a Varroa mite shield.

I still have beards but the SR seems to make a difference - it's very hot and humid in Atlanta with no rain so I think beards are the order of the day no matter how I try to help the bees.

One of the two I bought came broken - looked like someone had stepped on it - and they sent a new one via Fed-Ex right away.  Here's a picture of the Betterbee slatted rack (broken, but still gives you the idea):

http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/6269/2875/640/DSC01145.jpg

Linda T in HOTlanta
Title: What a difference the slatted rack makes!
Post by: tillie on June 24, 2006, 10:30:58 pm
It's a miracle!  I put the slatted rack on my second hive today.  It now has a SBB, a slatted rack, the top propped open and a completely undrawn super with no honey in the frames.  Look at the difference:

http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/6269/2875/640/DSC01347.jpg

NO BEARD!  (And it's about 94 degrees tonight)

Linda T in HOTlanta
Title: What a difference the slatted rack makes!
Post by: KONASDAD on June 25, 2006, 01:08:58 pm
Do you put the SBB on top or bottom of slatted rack?
Title: What a difference the slatted rack makes!
Post by: tillie on June 25, 2006, 01:35:02 pm
Below the slatted rack - the purpose of the rack is to give the bees a place to hang out - the screened bottom board does not allow the bees access to the hive, just cools the place and is a spot where the Varroa mites hopefully drop off and don't come back.  

In my hive, it's the
--hive body sitting on the slatted rack
---sitting on the screened bottom board
------sitting on the hive stand.

I'm a newbee, but I think that's about right.

Linda T in Atlanta where it's pouring rain and I'm watching bees drowning on the front porch of the hive.
Title: SBB
Post by: GTBee on June 29, 2006, 02:14:10 pm
I've probably missed something previously but why do you need both a screened bottom board and a slatted rack?  Why not just the SBB?
Title: What a difference the slatted rack makes!
Post by: thomashton on June 29, 2006, 03:22:31 pm
Because the SBB allows for ventillation, but the slatted rack allows for extra room for the bees to hang out in and not be on the frames generating heat in the hive all the time. There are also other uses for both but this is what I believe you were getting at.
Title: What a difference the slatted rack makes!
Post by: tillie on June 29, 2006, 03:26:05 pm
When I only had the SBB, there were huge beards on both hives - the addition of a space in the hive for them literally to hang out makes all the difference in the coolness inside the hive.

Linda T in Atlanta
Title: What a difference the slatted rack makes!
Post by: MEdmonson on June 29, 2006, 03:54:42 pm
Don't suppose anybody has a link to some plans for making these?
Title: What a difference the slatted rack makes!
Post by: tillie on June 29, 2006, 04:23:25 pm
http://beemaster.com/beebbs/viewtopic.php?t=3574&highlight=slatted+rack

There is something posted here and there are others on the hive construction section of this forum.  

Linda T in ATlanta
Title: What a difference the slatted rack makes!
Post by: Brian D. Bray on June 30, 2006, 04:06:53 am
Try using a 1x2 (actually 3/4 x 1 1/2) and 1 inch doweling.  Cut to the same dimensions as your width and length of your hive boxes. Space the doweling so that they run the same direction as the frames and are centered under them.  Use an frame end peice as a spacer.  If you allow 1/2 inch on each side of the hive as free space then the frames will work out to the proper number for the hive whether you're using 8 or 10 frames.  Mark the width end using a frame end peice and then mark center.  Drill holes at each center and secure doweling with screws.
Remember to allow 1/4 inch above and below the doweling for bee space.
I've found the doweling allows for a larger number of bees to congregate than square bars do.
Title: What a difference the slatted rack makes!
Post by: KONASDAD on July 05, 2006, 09:14:47 pm
I added my slatted botton board this week. Overnite, all the field bees stopped hanging on outside at nite and are now inside out from the torrential rains we have had. I too beleive!
Title: What a difference the slatted rack makes!
Post by: Michael Bush on July 05, 2006, 10:56:37 pm
I have a lot of them and have always liked them, but I never got the slatted racks cut down to eight frame size yet...
Title: What a difference the slatted rack makes!
Post by: Zoot on July 07, 2006, 12:35:04 pm
Brian -

Why use 1" dowels? Is there an advantage to this size? The one rack I've seen that used dowels used thinner stock, maybe 3/4" or even 5/8". I never questioned the guy who made it so his choice could have been arbitrary.
Title: What a difference the slatted rack makes!
Post by: Brian D. Bray on July 10, 2006, 03:32:10 am
The 1" doweling is the closest I can get commercially to the width of the top baqr of the frame or the thickness of the comb.  Proper alignment of frames and slats lets all parrasites fall through and if you're using a SBB they fall out the bottom.  Also the roundness of the doweling doesn't give any ledges for errant parasites to land on.  If they hit the slat they usually keep on going.  One final advantage is that the roundness of the doweling actually allows for more bees to gather between the slats as they can piggy-back.

I hope that answers your question.
Title: What a difference the slatted rack makes!
Post by: BeeHopper on July 20, 2006, 09:01:14 pm
Another believer in the slatted rack just join the ranks. After weeks of watching my girls beard up the front of the hives after their long day on the job, I installed my racks last weekend and noticed the results tonite. More than half of the beard is gone in all 3 hives. Soon it will be time to try the rack as a Queen excluder, but there will be some modifications to them to work properly, way too much space on the underside.  :D
Title: What a difference the slatted rack makes!
Post by: Brian D. Bray on July 21, 2006, 01:05:26 am
Which is why I designed mine the way I did.  The 1 inch doweling centered on a 1 3/4 board allows 3/8 inches above and below the dowel.  This eliminates the free space.  The other solution is to use 1 x 1's instead of the dowel but 1 x 1's are really only 3/4 x 3/4, so the spacing is all out of wack.
Title: What a difference the slatted rack makes!
Post by: Zoot on July 21, 2006, 12:07:35 pm
Brian,

I actually made the rim of my slatted racks 1 1/2 inches high with 1 inch dowels centered. Do you feel that there is enough room for the bees to move comfortably above and below the dowels?
Title: What a difference the slatted rack makes!
Post by: Brian D. Bray on July 22, 2006, 12:27:41 am
As lomg as you have at least 1/4 inch on each side of the dowel you'll be fine.