Dadant SBB experience.

[Tom Chaudoir]

The SBBs I bought are add-ons that go on top of the traditional bottom board. There's a strip that goes partially down into the old entrance. A plastic tray slips under the strip so that the old bottom board is covered by the tray.

The catalog did say that it might not fit all bottom boards. Fair enough. I bought new Dadant boards too.

Surprise. Their SBBs don't fit their own bottom boards. The strip is too long to drop into the slot. No big deal. Grabbed a back saw and took a bit off each end. End of problem. Almost.

The strips were too thick too. They squeezed down on the sliding tray, making the "sliding" part impossible. Grabbed a plane and prepared to take a little off the top. Whoa! The strip is held on with staples, flush with the surface. Not very plane friendly. Grabbed a punch and tried driving the staples deeper. No luck. Tried some gentle prying to remove the strip. It was on there really well. I'd have torn things up taking it off. Hmm.

Drove 2 nails into the side rails of the lower bottom board near the front. Left them sticking up about 1/8 inch. That held the SBB up so the tray could come out. Not my proudest moment of craftsmanship, but it worked. Thinking back I should have shimmed it. When the hives get heavy they will probably drive the nails in and close the gap, trapping the tray.

I emailed Dadant about it but didn't get a reply.

I can see a couple of other problems now that I have bees. </font> It would be better if the tray slid out the back. That way I wouldn't have to light the smoker and fumble around at the entrance. When putting it back I wouldn't have to get bees out of the way either.</font> The tray should be 1/2 inch longer, or have a tab or something to grab. It's dead flush with the edge and hard to get started. More so because the bottom gets sticky and full of debris.</font>
Next time I'll look for a better design, or make my own.

[ April 21, 2006, 01:37 PM: Message edited by: Tom Chaudoir ]

[George Fergusson]

Tom, I've not been too pleased with most preasseumbled woodenware, with a few exceptions. I bought some screened bottom boards fully assembled from Mann Lake last spring and this spring, they're almost ready for retirement. I guess the designers of these things don't think about the effect a few hundred pounds of hive sitting on them for a few years will have.

I've been making my own screened bottoms to retrofit existing conventional bottom boards using just 3/4" stock and a 4.5" x 16 1/4" landing board. You turn the bottom board around so the front is the back, the screened bottom sits on top. This leaves a 3/4" gap in back where the old entrance was, into that I slide a tray made out of zinc (aluminum?) flashing. These are working great. I wouldn't buy conventional bottoms just to retrofit them with these things, but I've got a lot of conventional bottom boards so...

I'll post a picture when I get a chance.

George-

[Jim Fischer]

&gt; It would be better if the tray slid out the back.
&gt; That way I wouldn't have to light the smoker and
&gt; fumble around at the entrance.

Uh, hate to mention it so late in the game, but
if you had turned around the solid bottom so
the landing board faced backwards, then you would
have had your opening at the back to insert and
remove the tray.

But I agree with you about the basic "fit and
finish". I'd call on their 800-number if I
got a defective product.

[2rubes]

Hi, check out the feature section of our boards. We've been making screen bottom boards for a long time, every couple of years I would get my hubbie to make new SBB with a new feature that would help make using the SSB easier. We also turned our early boards around to have a rear access. Surprise, surpise, since our hives were tipped forward, the rain ran down the back of the supers and right into the slot for the sticky board. Lucky I'm always checking those boards and discovered the water. I had Mike had a rain guard, it solved that problem. And the front and back access was another plus; we move our splits in front of a fence and do not have back access, but our strong hives all sit on stands and its so easy to check boards without disturbing yours bees.
Our website is www.countryrubes.com (http://www.countryrubes.com)
Janet

[Tom Chaudoir]

....if you had turned around the solid bottom so the landing board faced backwards, Hi Jim,

I wish that was true. With this unit the tray access is forced to the front. Take a look. (http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/3837/460/1600/1.jpg) The greenish part is the customary bottom board. The SBB parts are all sort of purple looking in this picture. You can see how it blocks the old entrance, and puts the new one right above.

I've decided to close that entrance too and turn both bottoms around. Then I'll go with a top entrance and the problem will be gone for the most part. I'll also slip a couple of shims in there while I'm at it. That ends the worry of the nails being driven in.

It's not that big a deal for me. I had the tools and such. It could be a problem for someone starting out who really needs things to fit, and with bees on the way.

[Jim Fischer]

&gt;&gt; if you had turned around the solid bottom so the
&gt;&gt; landing board faced backwards

&gt; I wish that was true

Try it, you'll like it - the purple downward
projection will slide right up against the solid
stringer that makes up the back wall of the
bottom board, and you will then have the rear
access you wanted.

[Tom Chaudoir]

Hi Jim,

Ok, I see what you mean. That could work. Unless I shim the other end of the bottom board too, the tray would be trapped by the stringer again.

What do you do with an active hive that's off it's base? It would take a few minutes to turn things around. Set it on the ground? There are going to be some very confused foragers coming home while I'm working.

[amymcg]

Set it on top of it's cover.

[Tom Chaudoir]

Ah! Makes sense. Thanks!