Would a screened bottom board be a good idea in Idaho? Seems like it would be too cold even with a cover. What do you think?
Quote from: Buzzen on May 15, 2009, 11:08:59 PM
Would a screened bottom board be a good idea in Idaho? Seems like it would be too cold even with a cover. What do you think?
IMO, a screened bottom board is a good idea anywhere. I opperate with bottomless hives and have left them open all winter long, they've overwintered just fine.
i use them in oregon. i do keep them closed from september until ?? mine are still closed :-).
The only thing about SSB's that concerns me is that I remember a seasoned beekeeper saying that using them seems to decrease hive growth (numbers of bees). Other than that, there's no problems that I am aware of.
Correct me if I'm wrong or direct me to the post but I don't remember reading anything about a SBB decreasing the # of B'. I'm in Massachusetts and a SBB is new to me, at least since last year. I like them. Lately we had night temps in the 50's and I had the bottom slide out. Two nights ago temps dipped to 38 and I just slid the tray on. That's how easy it is. In the hot summer it is a blessing. That's my $0.59 of thought.
Quote from: gaucho10 on May 16, 2009, 07:23:01 PM
Correct me if I'm wrong or direct me to the post but I don't remember reading anything about a SBB decreasing the # of B'.
It wasn't on this forum, but it was by a beekeeper whose opinion I listen to. I don't think SBB's are a bad idea, I just remember reading that. I use them just so I can do mite counts, but I keep a tray of some kind under the hives almost all the time.
""I use them just so I can do mite counts, but I keep a tray of some kind under the hives almost all the time.""
Me too. I keep the tray under the hive just to keep any grass from growing up and to save the lost pellets of pollen that the bees sometimes drop.
Quote from: gaucho10 on May 16, 2009, 07:23:01 PM
Correct me if I'm wrong or direct me to the post but I don't remember reading anything about a SBB decreasing the # of B'. I'm in Massachusetts and a SBB is new to me, at least since last year. I like them. Lately we had night temps in the 50's and I had the bottom slide out. Two nights ago temps dipped to 38 and I just slid the tray on. That's how easy it is. In the hot summer it is a blessing. That's my $0.59 of thought.
SSB are left open all winter long for the lasts 4 years they overwintered just fine in Athol, MA. 01331
BEE HAPPY Jim 134 :)
I had 4 hives with solid BB's and lost 3 of them. I am not saying it was only because of the BB's but this year I overwintered 5 out of 5 hives with screened BB's. I covered them in December and opened them in March. I live in MA and we had a very cold winter. I think that it proves that moisture kills bees, not cold.
Quote from: WhipCityBeeMan on May 16, 2009, 09:10:22 PM
I had 4 hives with solid BB's and lost 3 of them. I am not saying it was only because of the BB's but this year I overwintered 5 out of 5 hives with screened BB's. I covered them in December and opened them in March. I live in MA and we had a very cold winter. I think that it proves that moisture kills bees, not cold.
AAAAaammmeeenn!
Thanks for the input everyone. I'll probably go ahead and use them.
what is your hives on with SBB? my hives are on an open pressure treated frame a foot off the ground. would this allow to much air flow?
You will find folks on both sides of the issue, it is almost like talking religion :-X
I've switch back to solid bottom boards about 3-4 years ago and believe it has helped my wintering percentage and perhaps plays a part with varroa control as I haven't had to treat anything in 3 years.
Couple points to consider.
1. Every feral colony I have found has always been sealed up tight.
2. Varroa doesn't prosper as well in warmer and higher humidity conditions. -> http://forum.beemaster.com/index.php/topic,16851.0.html
3. Colony heat retention helps with faster brood build up in the spring. Bees don't have to cluster as close to maintain temperature and therefore can cover more brood.
i tend to agree with robo, but i use SBBs. i just keep mine closed most of the year. when days are consistently in the +80s and nights are warm, i open them.
I keep mine closed most of the year and use them mostly to monitor mite drop. Here in the desert southwest I am concerned they may have a hard time maintaining moisture in the hive. Getting rid of moisture is not a problem...
I use SBB's here in Western Washington. I also keep them open all winter, helps keep moisture out. I've had no problems with the number of bees decreasing. The only thing I don't like about screened bottom boards is keeping them clean. That is until I discovered the SBB's from Walter T. Kelley. From the back of your hive you can not only pull out the plastic sheet for doing mite counts, but you can also pull out the screen it's self, dumping all the debris out. Makes it really nice, especially if you had a harder than normal winter like we did this year and have lots of dead bees blocking the exit. That way you don't have to tear the entire hive apart or move double stacked deeps off the bottom board. :-)
Sean Kelly
I have SBBs and I like them for the summer ventilation only. I have kept them open during the winter and every time I did I had considerably more hive losses than if I used solid bottoms or closed SBBs. Never again. I also noticed that keeping the SSBs open during the winter and early spring will aid in a slower build up. All things considered, I probably won't drop another dime into SBBs unless they are a great price.
As Sean Kelly pointed out, the SBB he has is a removable screen. I like that about a SBB and so I made my own. By making dadoes on the side I can removed the screen from the back of the hive for cleaning. If you purchased a non-removable SBB you can still correct that by removing the screen and making a metal frame for the screen. It takes a little bit of artistic work but it can be done. After frame the screen you can then slide the screen back to its original location and you can then removed the screen for cleaning. Most of the cleaning you are going to do on a SBB is during the winter when you have dead bees at the bottom. If you remove the screen carefully you will not disturb the hive and its occupants. The removable SBB is deffinitely the way to go.