Beemaster's International Beekeeping Forum

I have 7 hives now, all with screen bottom boards of varias types. Planning to expand go to 15 hives by end of year. I want to standardize now if possible. None are IPM. I am in FL.

I was getting ready to make standardized IPM bottom boards for all of my hives.

I am quite uncertain at this point though if I should do solid bottom boards or screened. So much conflicting info.

So without further info, I want to do a simple poll to see which one is more popular.

I'm in michigan and I use both, winter solids, spring thru fall screened. Just me, I feel the solids are best for our really cold winters.

I'm in NC and use screened.  But my understanding is that the added ventilation helps reduce condensation from building up inside the hive even the the coldest climates up North.
-pc

used screened for a few years, my bee's do better on solid BB's, I dont used the screen anymore.

Quote from: TwT on April 18, 2009, 09:08:07 PM
used screened for a few years, my bee's do better on solid BB's, I dont used the screen anymore.

I believe I am beginning to see this same thing happen with my hives.


...JP

For those of you using solid, are you using a sugar or alcohol roll in the jar to test for quantity of mites?

you guys that went from screened to solid, did you use inserts during the winter?  what makes you think they did better on solid?  i am going to need more and i'd be interested in your answers.  the solid are cheaper, and i could make my own, but it's soooo wet here, i like the idea that the screened might help with moisture control in fall and spring especially.

i have been 4 years on the SBB, but the insert is in for 8 or 9 months of the year.

I have used SBB since my second year.  I make my own, but do have a method to close them up.  I think the ventilation in the summer is a plus.  IMHO.

David

No option for bottomless so I didn't vote.

I've always used solid bottom boards i like them wouldn't know about the screened bottom boards.

I use screened here in FL.  The refrain from association meetings and just about everywhere I have read is SBB is one tool in the belt to help lower Varroa mite populations.  If one falls off a bee and lands on the ground it dessicates and dies.  Falls on a solid board and is more likely to crawl back up.

Hey MustBeeNuts. I decided to try leaving the vented bottom board on all winter. The board comes with a white poly board that can be slid in underneath the screen to block some of the flow, and I did put that in, but it was somewhat ventilated all winter, and the hive did fine. I know of another guy in Fremont, MI, who started two packages of Italians from Southern California last year and left his ventilated bottom boards on all winter and just put some grass underneath it to block the flow a bit, and both of his hives survived as well.

This was my first hive to make it to winter and I was happy it survived. The hive had good numbers going into winter and the hive was not wrapped at all. In fact it has a small top entrance too. I live 125 feet from the White River and the hive was not that protected from the north wind. Some deep snow helped insulate it.

FWIW.

Jay

I've only used screened bottom boards, mine also has a white slideout board.
This winter was a tough one, I kept the bottom closed up most of the time.
On midwinter warm-up spells I would open them halfway.
I like it for adjusting ventilation, checking mite load, and in general it let's you see whats falling from the hive.

I have them open right now because the weather is warming up,
but if the temps drop into the 20's at night I close them up, I like having that option.

This is only my 1st spring as I started my 2 hives last April.
My mite count has remained very low....so far, and the bees are doing very well.
If feeding raw sugar in the late winter you can pull out the board so sugar won't buildup as much.

Paul

Cans you use a screened BB with a migratory cover? 

Quote from: mgmoore7 on April 18, 2009, 09:44:07 PM
For those of you using solid, are you using a sugar or alcohol roll in the jar to test for quantity of mites?

I dont do mite counts, I dont worry about mites, if they die from mites I don't want them, I dont treat with anything either.

Quote from: kathyp on April 18, 2009, 09:48:29 PM
you guys that went from screened to solid, did you use inserts during the winter?  what makes you think they did better on solid?  i am going to need more and i'd be interested in your answers.  the solid are cheaper, and i could make my own, but it's soooo wet here, i like the idea that the screened might help with moisture control in fall and spring especially.

i have been 4 years on the SBB, but the insert is in for 8 or 9 months of the year.

I dont use regular Solid BB's either, the BB's I use has a entrance on 2 opposite sides of the hive, SBB's does help with ventilation but 2 entrances on opposite sides does also, in the spring time my hives are exploding before the flows even start, they just seem to do better with the BB's I use now, I notice this spring that every hive using the 2 entrance BB's propolized the west entrance closed, seems they want it as closed off as they can during winter, I do use ventilated tops also. when I used SBB's I closed the bottom of some and left others open, the closed off hives built up faster but not as fast as the solid BB,s , raising queens and building up hives for flows is what I like and I can take frames of brood before flows even start and still have huge hives when the flow starts so I only use SBB's for removals and swarm catching now so they get good ventilation while riding in the back of the truck, I dont use them on the hives. hope I explained enough to answer your question, if not ask some more and I might can do better.

I just started this winter to use the inserts in the bottom to keep them warmer. For our weather climate out here, the SBB works really great. It just feels right to me to keep things as open as possible. When I see all the dirt that accumulates on the inserts then I am happy that all that dirt is going to just fall right on down.

Quote from: annette on April 19, 2009, 02:17:01 PM
When I see all the dirt that accumulates on the inserts then I am happy that all that dirt is going to just fall right on down.

the only reason its there is because they can get to it to clean it out, they keep solid BB's clean also but you get a little burr comb on solids some times.

I was expecting a response from someone from what I said. I know they would keep the BB clean as a whistle, but I still just like knowing the mites can fall on down to never, never land.

Quote from: annette on April 19, 2009, 02:26:06 PM
I was expecting a response from someone from what I said. 

:-P  :evil:  ;)

My answer is not scientific, just something I've been noticing, that those on solid bbs seem to be doing better. Also consider those feral hives don't ever have sbbs and they do great and most are mite resistant or cope with mites with better hygenic behavior.


...JP

Well I'm using the screened bb, rarely put the white board under it now I'm learning more.  Any mites that might fall through drop down to the brick bottom layer and aren't coming back up. I also have a ventilated upper super that goes with my overhead feeder.  So I know there is good ventilation throughout the hive.  And its going to get hot here soon and both those will be a plus IMO. And I continue to use them as is throughout next winter because like I already mentioned before I believe the ventilation will help eliminate any build up of condensation that will drip down on the bees.
But for the folks that simply say they like solid bb's, please say why and what difference you have noticed rather than just saying you prefer them.
-pc

One thing to keep in mind is different climates call for different management techniques, so what works best in on climate might not work at all in another.   Furthermore, bees can be pretty adaptive and survive despite our "help".

Quote from: annette on April 19, 2009, 02:17:01 PM
For our weather climate out here, the SBB works really great. It just feels right to me to keep things as open as possible.

Annette,

Just out of curiosity,  the cut-out you just did,  had the bees sealed up all the cracks and voids, or did they prefer open and airy?   I know we are at opposite ends of the country and are climates are different, but around here, ferals keep their nest sealed up pretty tight.  I'd be interested in understanding if the ferals manage their space differently in warmer climates.

Secondly,  how where their mite counts? 

Quote from: tlynn on April 19, 2009, 09:00:30 AM
I use screened here in FL.  The refrain from association meetings and just about everywhere I have read is SBB is one tool in the belt to help lower Varroa mite populations.  If one falls off a bee and lands on the ground it dessicates and dies.  Falls on a solid board and is more likely to crawl back up.

I know this sounds plausible and most folks can easily accept the logic, but it assumes natural mite fall off is significant,  which I'm not convinced of.  I realize your in Florida, so it is naturally warmer and more humid than here, so maybe this doesn't apply to you, but it may to others.  Could it be that the added ventilation of SBB is reducing the temperature and humidity in the brrod nest so that you are actually breeding more mites than are being eliminated by dropping thru the SBB?
http://forum.beemaster.com/index.php/topic,16851.0.html

Personally,  I think bee genetics plays a bigger role than any IPM technique.   Since I have migrated to feral stock,  varroa is not any issue.  I still monitor by uncapping 10 or so drone cells during inspections, but that is about it.   I find much quicker and larger spring build up with SBB than I had with SBB even when closed off with a tray.

They had the place sealed up pretty tight. We found these incredible pieces of propolis, about the size of golf balls in various places.  And they were examined pretty well by the beekeepers and no one found any mites on them. They kept saying how healthy they looked, no mites, really nice colony of bees. Of course don't forget there wasn't any brood either.

Really, it comes down to what works best for you. "Most popular" is not a good way to determine what is best (McDonalds may be the most popular restaurant, but is it the best restaurant?).

For the record, I use SBB. Leave them open all the time, except for when I'm doing a 24-hr mite count. Our winters usually have several weeks of sub-freezing temps, and usually a few weeks of sub-zero temps. My bees have overwintered well.

Quote from: indypartridge on April 20, 2009, 08:20:15 AM
Really, it comes down to what works best for you. "Most popular" is not a good way to determine what is best (McDonalds may be the most popular restaurant, but is it the best restaurant?).

For the record, I use SBB. Leave them open all the time, except for when I'm doing a 24-hr mite count. Our winters usually have several weeks of sub-freezing temps, and usually a few weeks of sub-zero temps. My bees have overwintered well.

That is my experience as well.  With SBB the hive can be left "open" into the single digits, which leads me to believe subzero temps as well.

I keep half on SBB and half on solid.  I don't know if one does better than another as it seems more dependant on the hive than the BB.  Now our temperatures get down to about -10 and the screens are left open and the bees survive fine.  I am still watching to see which I prefer but in the summer the SBB are much better as the hive keep cooler.

I like my SBB for all the same reasons that people mentioned pro-SBB.