Energetic "penalty" for screened bottom board?

[JWChesnut]

I have Screened bottom boards (SB).  I close these with a sliding tray of thin plywood.  I inspect the trays regularly to monitor Varoa and other pest conditions.

The boards accumulate some mites, of course.  They also have waste, larvae shells outer integuments, unused wax scales and pollen clumps.

The loss of the pollen clumps and the wax scales must put some "load" on the hive.  Does anyone have a sense of how substantial this is.  The screen has always struck me as very similar to the "pollen trap" designs I have seen. I have never used a pollen trap, because I have no interest in that product taken from the hives.

I have rejected trying to save and refeed the pollen and wax (for obvious sanitary reasons), but I am interested in if anyone has a sense of the scale of losses the hives are experiencing through clumsy losses of wax scales and pollen.

The advantage of the wax scale losses is I am able to trace the active cell building and capping locality in the hive.  This tends to be pretty localized at any particular period.  Do others that use a  screen and tray system notice that pattern?

[Kathyp]

lots of wax when there is a flow.  as for other stuff....i don't worry about it to much. just scrape it off.  i guess it's interesting go look at........

[dbush]

My experience is that using the screened bottom boards in new hives slows down the building of comb as a lot of the wax scales fall through and are lost because the bees can't get to them.

My second year hives are suffering not so much from the loss of wax but, there is a lot of pollen falling through which again is lost as the bees can reclaim it. I'm not positive if they are ejecting old pollen or loosing the new or both but my feeling is that they are loosing the new pollen they are collecting.

I am not using the screened bottoms on any of my new hives and they are building out superbly. I will be removing the screens from the rest of my hives over the next few days.

[indypartridge]

I use SBB's and leave them open year 'round. The only time I slide in the board is when I'm doing a 24-hour mite-drop count.

I don't believe there's any significant loss as to the stuff that falls to the bottom. It's very minimal overall.

My experience is that using the screened bottom boards in new hives slows down the building of comb

I''ve never had a problem with this. Just another example of what works best for one beekeeper may not work for another.

[Hethen57]

It was my understanding that bees did not pick up dropped pollen chunks and I doubt they would pick up dropped wax scales...maybe I'm wrong, but I asked the question last year because I noticed a ton of pollen chunks on my solid bottom board and wondered if they would gather it up.  They just seem to dump it off the front landing board like trash.  As for the wax scales, I think they incorporate them as they are excreting them, so I don't think they would recycle the dropped scales either.

[Ollie]

It was my understanding that bees did not pick up dropped pollen chunks and I doubt they would pick up dropped wax scales...maybe I'm wrong, but I asked the question last year because I noticed a ton of pollen chunks on my solid bottom board and wondered if they would gather it up.  They just seem to dump it off the front landing board like trash.  As for the wax scales, I think they incorporate them as they are excreting them, so I don't think they would recycle the dropped scales either.

Maybe they dump pollen that is contaminated...
Just like the nectar comes from a forager and is given to a house bee which in turn puts that nectar in the honey cells, if the house bee gets sick because the nectar is contaminated, it become a forager right away and gives up all of its protein to the hive. Foragers have no protein. Protein being the most valuable resource in nature. They keep it in the hive. How I don't know. (source: Dr.Larry Connors. )
Wax scales on the bottom are usually wax cappings off the honey. Yes they might use them again if solid bottom but a healthy hive has no problem making wax.
Less mites, more health!

[Robo]

I think the bigger exposure is wax moths.  SBB provide the perfect environment for wax moths to thrive.  All the food they need falls from the sky, while the screen provides protection from the bees.  Can become a serious problem for week hives.

As far as picking up dropped pollen, it is sort of a catch 22.   When there is plenty of fresh pollen available, they prefer that and won't pick up the dropped stuff,  which coincidentally is the only time you notice dropped pollen.   When times are tough, they will do whatever they need to.  Often times I find millet seed in the bottom of my hives in early spring before real pollen is available.

[Michael Bush]

I've never seen the pick up a dropped scale or dropped pollen unless it was a house bee hauling it out for trash.  But heat is one of the requrements to draw wax.  If you want to understand why, take some bees wax and try to shape it into a ball with your fingers.  Doesn't work so well?  Now hold it in your hands until it is body temperature and try it again.  Much easier?  That's why they need heat to draw wax.  Letting all the heat out when they have limited workers to keep the temps up, is not very helpful.