Has anyone done a brood rearing comparison?

[NCBee]

I was wondering if anyone on here had done a brood rearing comparison on a hive gived a standard bottom board, and one given a screened bottom board?  Also as an added apect of the comparison, the addition of a slatted rack for more thermal barrier above the screened bottom board?

My intention is to set up new equipment over the winter in the following fashion.  

Hive stand, screened bottom board, slatted rack, then the brood box.  This will all set on top of a built stand that is constructed out of 2 x 6 Lumber. So if I am figuring things correctly, the distance from the bottom of the 2 x 6 to the bottom of the brood racks will be about 10-12 inches.  I am figuring this will rule out any draft caused by wind.

Any thoughts??

[Finsky]

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I have feeded bees in spring with pollen  15 years. Four years ago I took into use terrarium heaters.  I found that electrict heating fasten spring build up 3-fold.
Especially big colonies grow fast when you feed and heat them. Then you may give capped brood to small colonies and they rise fast.

Terrarium heater is on bottom. It atracts the queen to lay eggs in lower box. Normally queen try to rise up.

Wind blow is bad in screened boottom.

Too much ventilation in spring generates easily bad chalk brood.

Notice that all wintered bees will be dead before summer begins.

I have found that when I give pollen feeding to Italians, they have as fast spring build up as Carniolans.

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[Brian D. Bray]

NCBee;

I use the set up you're discribing and have had good result.  I use a 2X4 hive stand and a 2x4 SBB.  I build the SBB on the wide side of the board so that the foot print is several inches wider and longer than the normal SBB. Then goes the slatted rack with 2-4 medium boxes for a brood chamber.  A little ventilation at the top is recommended--if you build the SBB without any opening and use a top entrance you have the necessary amount of ventilation.  The slatted rack provides an air space (thermal layer) that reduces any wind affects on the SBB.

Good luck, I think you'll be impressed with the results.

[Finsky]

AND MORE

I use normal bottom board and entrance reducer. During the honey flow season I keep lower entrance wide open.

The result is that brood area try to go upstairs. So I use 3 brood box. Normally lowest box have pollen and it remains as extra store for nectar.

So in our climate it is easy to see that brood area is sensitive to cold and especially to night cold.

I thied 2 years ago screened bottom: 3 bottom in one box wintering hive and 3 bottom in 2 box wintering.  Result was that one box hves were all near to die. Food consumption increased 50% In 2-box hives I did not noticed any special.  

In one box group one died and 2 others were very near to starving dead.  So it was my first and last screened bottom trial. I manage fine with solid bottoms.

It is wind which affects on hives.

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[Robo]

I tried a open bottom hive a few years back and they would not use the bottom 1/3 of the frames.

http://www.beemaster.com/beebbs/viewtopic.php?t=528


Like FInsky,  I also find that providing heat on the bottom board brings the queen right down to the bottom to lay in the spring.  Although I use SBB,  I keep them closed off October thru May.  I do see a greater amount of brood being reared early in the spring than by leaving them open. The spring is the toughest time for brood rearing.  You have the fewest bees and it is the most critical time to rearing lots of brood.  Although the days may be nice and warm,  it is the night time temperatures that dictate how much the bees can spread out and how much brood they can keep warm.[/img]

[NCBee]

I notice that a couple resonders are from NY, and Finland.  I am in a much milder climate that either of those places, so I would guess that winters would not be has harsh on bees here.  I am currently ready for winter with my one hive in two deep boxes, and a weight of approximately 90 lbs.

They are in a standard hive with solid bottom, and reduced entrance.  So I will compare them in the spring, then maybe get a comparison next spring on the set-up that I have mentioned.

[Robo]

True, but I was referring to early spring brood rearing when the night time temps drop below 40.  I know our calendars don't line up, but I assume you have the same conditions.

[TwT]

This past spring I notices that the BB hive's did get a population growth fast than my opened SBB hive's,

[NCBee]

I am getting the idea that towards the end of winter when the queen starts to lay, it would be good to close it up.  My next question is this, If the screened board is used atop the traditional hive stand, can it be closed up?  If not, I had thought about cutting an opening in the back of  the hive stand, and placing some support slats in to allow for a trey to be inserted.  

Sound logical?

(I had mentioned this to one supplier as a possible improvement)

[Robo]

I build the SBB to accept the tray.  Similiar to the design from beesource.
http://www.beesource.com/plans/ipmbottom.htm


I guess you could also slip a piece of cardboard thru the entrance and cover the SBB from the top.

[Brian D. Bray]

NCBee
If you want to close up the lower opening on a SBB and you're using a syand (manufactured) hive stand just set it on a piece of plywood cut to size.  That way the air flow worries are eliminated and the SBB still functions as its suppose to.  The slatted rack goes a long way in reducing heat loss in a SBB configuration.  I doubt those who report bad results wintering with open SBB used a slatted rack between the SBB and the hive body.
I'm in a fairly minld climate here in NW Washington, the geography surrounding the San Juan Island makes the area more temperate that the rest of the Western half of the state.  I've had no obious problems with leaving the SBB open all year around.  Being in NC you should have even less of a problem.

[Finsky]

If we think screened bottom for winter, it's duty is to keep hive dry and carry out condensation water. In winter the tempreture of bee ball is 23 C.  When hive start to raise brood ball's temperature rises to 32C.  Whole hive is warmer and dryer.

It is very usefull to deminish the hive from 2 box to one box in spring.  Hive is tight, no dew point inside the hive, covered from winds etc.  There is no diffrence with Finland and NY.  People look day temperatures but night temperatures rules the system.

There are many evidences and examinatins how warm hive speed up spring build up. In Israel it was made a research where they found that electrict heating generates more brood.

What makes more brood in spring:

* pollen is needed
* good weather
* warm hive
* bottom heating
* proper ventilation, not too much

What makes brood area smaller:
* lack of food
* cold weathers (= food saving)

What makes hive sick:

* brood rearing but snow is in ground and bees get not water
* brood area is expanded and then it comes bad weather and brood catch cold
* bad wethers, half of bees die in a week on fields and they cannot any more keep warm brood area.
* too harsh ventilation and brood get chalk brood.

In Canada it was studies how bees manage with screened bottom in spring and in summer. They reported "nothing good to mention".


Many beekeepers get first solution and then he try to find favorite explanations to his system. Not good at all.

[Finsky]

There are different bee stock which react quiclky to bad conditions and some stock react at all. They live like a last day. I like last day stocks because they keep wide brood area even bad weather snaps come.

What i am saying: It takes many years to find out what affect in hives. There are so much variation between years and stocks that it is difficult to say according a couple of hives.

The most interesting thing is that the biggest hives reasct most positively to feedind and heating. Reson is that small hive meets it's limits soon. It is the amount of nursing bees which rules the size of brood area too.

I nurse carefully bets hives. When they have  3 boxes bees I start to give capped brood frames to small colonies. When hive has one fox full of brood, it need not help from bigger hives.

If hive had got nosema in winter, it recovers often easily when it gets healthy nurser bees from capped frames. With it's own powers it is difficult to grow up. If queen has nosema, it may stop laying totally.