brent.roberts
05-08-2006, 12:22 PM
I've been using the BeeMax stryofoam screened bottom board for several weeks now and would like to pass on some observations
1) I am finding a handful of bees, live and dead, in it each time I pull out the tray. The bees are all small, so I think they newborns. I think the screen mesh is too coarse and the small bees are going through and can't get back up (like the mites )and eventually die down there.
2) the tray is a pain to get out. You reach under to try to pull it out and to do that you have to put some upward pressure on it. That makes it hang up on the lip of the styrofoam base.
3) the sloping sides of the base are hopper shaped and seem to have a steep enough angle that all the debris etc runs down to the screen and falls through. However this may only come about because of the bees running back and forth on the slopes, helping it along. Can't tell. If the mites are landing on it and staying there for a bit then they are getting another ride on a passing bee pretty quick. I've got very low mite counts ( less than a dozen in 3 weeks of monitoring) so I don't have much opportunity to observe
I just got in some of the new plastic bottoms from Dadant.
They seem to have a very effective well around each leg to stop ants and maybe beetles.
In my opinion the screened bottom is a joke. The clear area in in the screen where mites etc can fall through is only 4" x 9 1/4". I also fear that the hopper angle leading to the screen is not going to be steep enough to feed the mites etc to the screen. The screen is plastic with 3.7mm square holes. It all looks well made otherwise.
( just installed the Dadant bottom/stand and had a chance to measure the screen in the Beemax and it also is 3.7mm
Apnovar SBB.
This a a Canadian made wooden bottom with a virtually full size screen. Smaller mesh than the Beemax. No sloping sides needed because it is full size. The tray is simple corrigated plastic sign board.
A bit rough but looks OK, except that it is a bad fit for the Beemax hives I'm using. Got a half dozen, brand new that I won't be using.
[ May 09, 2006, 07:26 AM: Message edited by: brent.roberts ]
1) I am finding a handful of bees, live and dead, in it each time I pull out the tray. The bees are all small, so I think they newborns. I think the screen mesh is too coarse and the small bees are going through and can't get back up (like the mites )and eventually die down there.
2) the tray is a pain to get out. You reach under to try to pull it out and to do that you have to put some upward pressure on it. That makes it hang up on the lip of the styrofoam base.
3) the sloping sides of the base are hopper shaped and seem to have a steep enough angle that all the debris etc runs down to the screen and falls through. However this may only come about because of the bees running back and forth on the slopes, helping it along. Can't tell. If the mites are landing on it and staying there for a bit then they are getting another ride on a passing bee pretty quick. I've got very low mite counts ( less than a dozen in 3 weeks of monitoring) so I don't have much opportunity to observe
I just got in some of the new plastic bottoms from Dadant.
They seem to have a very effective well around each leg to stop ants and maybe beetles.
In my opinion the screened bottom is a joke. The clear area in in the screen where mites etc can fall through is only 4" x 9 1/4". I also fear that the hopper angle leading to the screen is not going to be steep enough to feed the mites etc to the screen. The screen is plastic with 3.7mm square holes. It all looks well made otherwise.
( just installed the Dadant bottom/stand and had a chance to measure the screen in the Beemax and it also is 3.7mm
Apnovar SBB.
This a a Canadian made wooden bottom with a virtually full size screen. Smaller mesh than the Beemax. No sloping sides needed because it is full size. The tray is simple corrigated plastic sign board.
A bit rough but looks OK, except that it is a bad fit for the Beemax hives I'm using. Got a half dozen, brand new that I won't be using.
[ May 09, 2006, 07:26 AM: Message edited by: brent.roberts ]