Screened bottom boards.

[5TR-Apiary]

How many of you are using sbb? I have them on all seven of my hives and love them. The % of mites have dropped and my bees are not out in front of the hives "fanning" all the time!

[Jorge]

I like them too, especially how much easier it is to apply the FGMO with the fogger (very little wasted, and very little on your face to breath in).

[Michael Bush]

I only have a couple and intend to not buy anything else. I figure I'l eventually swap them all out.

[denise_ky]

I have them on 5 of my 6 hives. This is the first year using them. I'll put one on the 6th hive, I just need to paint it.
D.

[scott_dixon]

At what point do mites become an issue? Day 1, week 5, year 2? I started with standard bottom boards, but will switch if beneficial.

[Michael Bush]

It's hard to say. They reproduce in capped brood so in theory they should be a consideration anytime brood is being reared. But they seem to explode in the fall when brood rearing ends. Not sure why.

[dragonfly]

I have them on my Lang hives and build them into my top bar hives. Down here, I wouldn't consider beekeeping without them.

[WineMan]

I've only used screened bottom boards to monitor for resistant mites when treating. I have thought about trying screens this summer. For anyone out there using them, can you give me any idea what your 24 hour mite fall averages in the spring, summer and fall?

[Jorge]

I left the bottom closed and simple nailes a piece of screen on the edges of the board and then added cleats to make a 3/4" space. This way I have a rear entrance, I have space to stick a plastic board to catch the mites, and still have a big opening for ventilation. I do have one problem, though. In one of my hives, a family of ants has decided to take residence on the bottom (below the plastic sheet). Theya re laying eggs and the whole show. The weather here has been horrible (rain, drizzle followed by more rain or drizzle) so I have not looked closely to see if ants are getting on the comb, but when I have taken a quick look, I haven't seen any.
Anybody has dealt with this? Do I leave them alone? I guess it doesn't take much next time there is a nice day to clean out the bottom board with boiling water or something, but any other suggestions would be welcome.
Thanks

Jorge

[Michael Bush]

I would pull the board out and put loose tobacco (top or bugler) between where the ants were.

[Pat]

Wineman, I put sbb's with removable tray on 5 of my hives this spring, and just did a 24hr natural mite fall observation last week. The highest was 35 mites and the lowest was 1 mite!

There are several references which suggest thresholds for treatment. The threshold is defined as the point at which you are in danger of losing the hive to mites. 30 seems to be the lower limit and ~90 (or was it 70?) seems to be the higher limit for the natural 24 hr drop.

[WineMan]

Thanks Pat

I was curious what others were seeing. I did have screens on briefly this spring before pollination and compared the mite fall to ether roll for this year and past years. The results seem comparable but I only had screens on for about a week so it probably isnt perfect information. At least I had an idea what to expect in the spring but no idea for this time of year. I am curious to see what happens when I try it this time of year.

By the way, did you do the three day average fall?

[dandelion]

I have SBB in all my hives that at this point add up to 12. I even have screens in a couple of nucs...!
I'm only a 3rd year beekeeper, so disregard my opinion if you like... but I think is a bad idea to use the old bottom boards to convert them as SBB as Jorge says (don't take badly, Jorge...), turning them around and nailing the screen and adding a 3/4 cleat. One of the big (claimed) advantages of the SBB is to take advantage of the natural fall of mites. If they fall through the screen onto a floor that is only 3/4 in below, many can get up again (jumping), or at least that's what I read from other people. Also a lot of junk would accumulate there, and then you will have to stick a stick to try wipe that space clean.
My SBB are completly open underneath (except for the 8 or 7 mesh screen...) The hives sit on two 2x4's about 52" long, that sit on two cinder blocks. I have two hives per set up. In this way the junk that falls through the screen goes down onto the ground, about 6 in below, except for the area where the 2x4's are supporting the hives.
Also the distance between the screen and the 2x4's is about 2.5 or 3 in, meaning that the side of the SBB is that high, plus the 3/4 in space to provide for the bees to enter the hives. At the rear, the "wall" of the SBB is about 1" shorter, to allow me to stick a board when I want to count mites or for winter, when I had them closed. This winter with more hives to try, I might leave some toatally open, which is what others are doing.
By the way I still did not see mites this spring.
Take care,
Alejandro

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[Pat]

Wineman, I just did a 24 hour hour test. Not as representative as 3 day average, but I find the debris that accumulates over time really makes counting the mites difficult.

I also agree with Dandelion. You have to have a simple way to clean the bottom board below the screen or you will have a serious wax moth problem (and various other insects). I don't think you have to leave it open however. There are several on the market with removable trays that are easily cleanable without disrupting the hive in any way. Also, a thin coating of oil (petroleum jelly, crisco, etc.)on the tray will keep the mites from returning to the hive above. They will stick and die. The oil also facilitates cleaning the tray.

[Michael Bush]

>One of the big (claimed) advantages of the SBB is to take advantage of the natural fall of mites. If they fall through the screen onto a floor that is only 3/4 in below, many can get up again (jumping), or at least that's what I read from other people. Also a lot of junk would accumulate there, and then you will have to stick a stick to try wipe that space clean.

I don't think many mites can make the trip back up. Most will die on the board. Also, you can put a piece of cardboard or anything else, for that matter, on the bottom of the board for cleanout. If you turn the bottom board around so the old entrance is at the back and the new entrance (because of the 3/4 strip) is in the front then you can clean this out without facing the gaurd bees. You can buy one like this from Brushy Mt.

I do think that the ventilation, especially in the heat of summer (and not when a hive is struggling to get established) is a big plus to the ones that are open on the bottom. I have a DE Ventilation system (www.beeworks.com) that accomplishes that already, but the open screened bottom board may do it just as well or at least help.

[dandelion]

>I don't think many mites can make the trip back up. Most will die on the board. Also, you can put a piece of cardboard or anything else, for
that matter, on the bottom of the board for cleanout. If you turn the bottom board around so the old entrance is at the back and the new
entrance (because of the 3/4 strip) is in the front then you can clean this out without facing the gaurd bees. You can buy one like this from
Brushy Mt.

Be aware of not catching rain water ... If you do use the old boards turned around, at least I would cut them to 19 7/9 long so that they do not protrude to the back. Otherwise with the normal tilt forward a hive should have, you would collect rainwater. Perhaps drilling some big enough holes (so that they would not clog with the stuff coming down) in the floor at the original back, now called front, would help to drain them.

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[Michael Bush]

The reason for the forward tilt is just so the bottom board will drain. If you reverse the board, then you need to reverse the tilt. I think the ideal would be a bottom board that had the tilt in the bottom with the hive straight up and down. This would mean cutting a little bit off of the sides which is no harder than drilling the holes.

[BEEn Stung]

"SCRENED BOTTOM BOARDS" What next. I am sure getting a lot of information from this site. Keep posting . I will keep reading and doing my best to use the information.

[Jorge]

The fact that the entrance below the screen is in the back has nothing to do with reversing the original board.
The way I modified the original bottom boards (BB) is by, first, removing the back cleat of the BB, then nailing the hardware cloth to the edges of the BB, nailing a piece of wood 3/4" thick over the platform to raise the entrance to the new level that the hardware cloth is at, and finally nailing 3/4" cleats over the hardware cloth to make an entrance and space for the bees to move below the bottoms of the frames. The only trick to mention here is to nail the hardware cloth FIRST to what will be the new rear edge (the cleat on which the brood box will sit); otherwise it is tricky to nail ... try and you will quickly see what I mean. You can choose if you want to modify in this manner the "deep" (3/4") side of the BB or the shallow (3/8") side. If the latter, the piece to be nailed over the old platform has to be only 3/8".
From what I can see, it is better to modify the "deep" side because the tray you use to catch mites and junk can be moved more easily but, especially, because you get more ventilation through the rear.
I see no reason to use the adapter screens if you can cut a few pieces of wood & hardware cloth and nail them, because I just don't see why one would want to make BBs without the screen.

[Michael Bush]

to BeeNStung:

I don't know if you got the purpose, but the main purpose is for mite fall. The varroa that fall off of the bee fall through the screen and can't find a bee coming in to hitch a ride on and so most of the ones falling die. The secondary purpose is improved ventilation.

[dickm]

The debris problem becomes a non-problem if you leave the sliding boards out, except for the times when you are actually testing. The mites then fall further and the debris does as well. I've thought of throwing a little salt under the hives to kill ants and stuff but haven't done it yet. (My hives sit on 2 cement blocks) This also means the sticky boards are usually clean. I keep mine in a trash barrel on the site to keep them dry. A polish with FGMO and they are ready to go. While I leave the SSBs open all summer, I just bought a lot of nucs from a knowledgeable guy in upper NY State that leaves them open all winter! I'm going to try that on half of mine this winter. They couldn't die any more thoroughly than they did last year.

Dickm

[WineMan]

Anyone run into any issues with the hive debris falling below the screen and becoming a haven for small hive beetle?

[oregonbeekeeper]

does anyone have any pictures of there screened bottom board? If the bottom of the hive is completely open won't the hive be too cold during fall and spring nights?

May seem like a silly question but after 3 years of keeping bees in the philippines I am having to learn a few things about beekeeping in the damp and cold pacific northwest.

Thanks!

[5TR-Apiary]

I use the plastic corrigated bottom that sides into the bottom of the sbb, in the winter. Some of the older beekeepers around here (NC) don't cover the screen at all.

[Linwood]

SBB are good,but they have problems I have had ant have tried cinnamon,borrax ,wax paper with oil on it,,the ants made house under the paper,I tried duck dape they chew it,I still have ants they are small black ones today I pulled the back block out to check the bottom tray and bees started flying out. I have seen this on one of my other hives,, the only thing I can figure is that the screens have a couple of spots the bees can get through but can't find the way back, but I still think the screens are worth getting I think the good outway the bad. good luck

[Michael Bush]

Try loose tobacco under the board. Top or Bugler are the cheapest. Ants will not stay with that there.