I have screened bottom boards on my hives with a catch pan. Am I supposed to take the pan out on hot days?
It would surely improve the ventilation. I would only use the catch pan when doing mite drop counts.
That's how I've been handling things, too, and I have slatted racks on each hive. I've propped up my telescoping covers slightly from the inner covers using the wooden entrance reducers that came with the solid BBs. Is this enough to help with the ventilation, or would shims raise the cover more? Yesterday was the first day I saw a bunch of bees on the landing board fanning, but there was no bearding.
My populations are growing really well, and I'd like to see them increasing their foraging rather than spending energy cooling the hive.
Remove the pan, it's summer.
Sincerely,
Brendhan
I haven't had the pan on since April.
I have the SBB from Brushy Mountain. I guess they call it the IPM Bottom Board. Anyways, in the catalog they say to leave the catch off year round and only use it for checking mite drops. Is this right? It don't get real cold up here in the Pacific NW, but it does sometimes snow. I'm afraid it'll freeze the girls. Like last winter we had record lows of around 18 degrees in some parts. That was a real extreme, but if it happened with the SBB open, that would kill the girls for sure, right? Usually the weather is so mild here that most people dont even wrap their hives.
Sean Kelly
It won't kill them. There are some in the far North with sub zero temperatures that leave the SBB open year round. I do close mine off in late October and open them back up May/June depending on the weather. It will reduce the amount of brood they can raise in the Spring though as they have a harder time keeping it warm with the SBB open.
I leave mine open all year. We have extended periods of sub freezing temps. They do fine. They need more ventilation in the winter so the moisture can escape.
Quote from: amymcg on June 28, 2007, 09:14:43 AM
They need more ventilation in the winter
They definitely need ventilation the winter, but I'm not sure it is more than any other time of the year. Upper ventilation is the key for letting moisture out.
You are so right about that upper ventilation. Last winter I kept my SBB open all winter thinking the bees would have proper ventilation, but everything in the hive became so mildewed. The poor bees had to endure that awful stuff until I discovered it months later. Now I have this fancy new cover that is opened on the top to provide proper ventilation for them all year long.
Annette
>Am I supposed to take the pan out on hot days?
Yes, I would remove the pan. I don't know about "supposed to" but that's what I'd do.
I never use a pan under my SBB. I leave it open year around. Usually it's not a problem. I do have to qualify that with the observation that hurricane force winds enough to topple trees also tends to topple bee hives. Lost my hives last winter due to high winds. Also lost 2 trees.
Open SBB are no problem, a sltted rack to provide a little thermal layer of insulation (& room for the bees when they get too warm) helps.