Beemaster's International Beekeeping Forum

BEEKEEPING LEARNING CENTER => TOP BAR HIVES - WARRE HIVES - LONG HIVES => Topic started by: elsietee on October 21, 2009, 02:28:48 am

Title: Screened Bottom or Solid?
Post by: elsietee on October 21, 2009, 02:28:48 am: Armed with various plans, I'm getting ready to approach a [non-bee] woodworking friend who has volunteered to build me a hive (I'm secretly hoping he'll make me two, but baby steps, eh?... <grin>).

Can anyone give me the pros and cons of screened bottomed versus solid bottoms in a KTBH? Thanks!
Title: Re: Screened Bottom or Solid?
Post by: Michael Bush on October 24, 2009, 06:56:01 pm: As long as you don't leave too much of it open, it really doesn't matter. It makes little difference as far as Varroa as far as I can see, and the bees don't seem to have any trouble ventilating a horizontal hive. Too much ventilation, however, will cause it to overheat on a hot day as they can't cool the hive if too much hot air is coming in.
Title: Re: Screened Bottom or Solid?
Post by: trapperbob on October 28, 2009, 09:11:32 pm: I have one that has a completely screened bottom and they seem to be slower than the others to do anything.That's not to say they are worse off it's booming but since they are exposed to the weather they seem to be slower to get started of a morning presumably because they are colder and in the summer they spend to much time trying to cool it. so bees that would bee foraging are on air conditioning duty so they build up stores slower since there are fewer foragers about.. Knowing what I know now I would not open the whole bottom. And the other ones I have are all solid bottoms and they built up faster but not necessarily stronger but are doing well and they were also ready to go into winter sooner as far as having stores.
Title: Re: Screened Bottom or Solid?
Post by: trapperbob on October 28, 2009, 09:22:48 pm: What part of the sierras foot hills do you live in I grew up in Exeter,Ca. Just curios.
Title: Re: Screened Bottom or Solid?
Post by: sas_marine@hotmail.com on November 10, 2009, 03:35:47 am: hey guys, this may seem like a dumb question, but what exaclty is a screened bottom board and how is it used??? is it a device where you have say diatomacious earth underneath the webbing??? well thats what it looks like in my head, i need to know because i just build my tbh without one and need to know what they are for and if i should have one :P
Title: Re: Screened Bottom or Solid?
Post by: Michael Bush on November 10, 2009, 07:29:15 am: The concept of a screened bottom board is that you have a mesh large enough for mites to easily fall through but not large enough for bees and the mites that naturally fall off or are groomed off the bees will fall through and not be able to get back in. I have not observed it to make any real difference on mites. Natural comb, on the other hand, has for me made a lot of difference on mites.
Title: Re: Screened Bottom or Solid?
Post by: sas_marine@hotmail.com on November 10, 2009, 07:41:44 am: ok i see, and what do they fall into, is it an oil trap or dio earth sheet??
Title: Re: Screened Bottom or Solid?
Post by: Hethen57 on November 10, 2009, 04:14:38 pm: On my hive with a SBB, I have a white masonite slide out tray, lightly sprayed with Pam (non toxic and mites stick and die). The advantage that I have found is that you can assess the degree of mite infestation better by looking at the tray, but I don't think it solves the problem by itself. For the few that fall down, there are tons in the brood and latched onto the bees that you will need to deal with some other way.