Conventional BB vs Screened BB

[nursebee]

Which do you prefer for your hives? Until I get in mine in the spring, the verdict is still out for me. I have about 1/2 of each right now but need to start building bottom boards now. Why do you like what you use?

[swarm_trapper]

i didnt vote because we have 150 hives, half are on SBB the other half are on BB really did not see a diferance this year at all. i guess if i was going to vote i would go with sbb cause then you have a few V-mites can fall out of the hive.
Nick

[db_land]

Hi Joe,
I use sbb mainly for varroa drop counts. I think sbb helps a lot with ventilation. Also, looking at the debris on the insert tells a lot about what's going on in the hive like:
1) cluster size and location; 2) if the bees are uncapping honey; 3) brood emerging; 4) varroa, wax moth larvae, shb larvae/adults; 5) pollen being collected; 6) etc, etc. Note, the insert/drop sheet is key to making the SBB a valuable bee management tool.

[Dave W]

nursebee . . .

db_land's comments say it all:

"Ideal for varroa drop counts and monitoring other hive conitions."

Why would anyone NOT use them?

[Michael Bush]

Monitoring and better ventilation in the summer make them well worth having. Getting rid of some of the varroa is nice too. [img]smile.gif[/img] Improving the effectiveness of many control methods is also nice.

[MikeGillmore]

db_land covered the most important benefits of SBB. It seems the bees also have a much easier time cooling the hive in the dog days of summer... they spent their time doing better things [img]smile.gif[/img]

[Aspera]

To tell the truth, I have never tried using conventional bottom boards. Maybe I could use one in the winter

[Ben Brewcat]

We get seriously hot here in the summer, but with a SBB and a homemade Tarheit-style ventilation box, never had bearding and my 1st-year hive gave me a 25-pound surplus (and yes, they still have plenty of stores [img]smile.gif[/img] )! The monitoring with the tray is reassuring and important too.

[BjornBee]

I am very surprised at the results. It does how the impact of belonging to something like beesource. It also says something about how well informed beesource members are. Not that I am promoting SBB. I am merely pointing out that the general population of beekeepers are nowhere near the numbers of beekeepers on beesource in percentage terms of using SBB. I would say that less than 10% of the beekeeper I know use SBB.

[Aspera]

Maybe the best way to use SBB would be (as MB suggested) to keep the colonies open until frost and clustering occur. This would shut down brood rearing early. Once brood rearing and feeding are done, you could close them up or switch to conventional BBs and upper, rather than lower ventilation.

[Michael Bush]

>...you could close them up or switch to conventional BBs...

or just put the tray in.

[Tia]

Every hive I've ever purchased had a conventional BB to start with and I could see a marked improvement in every colony when I switched them to SBB's. Last year I added slatted racks to all but one and watched the strength and population grow yet again. I've got a slatted rack in the shed ready to go on the last holdout when I do my spring inspection/cleanup. I truly believe good ventilation is the key.

[Dave W]

Tia . . .

>Last year I added slatted racks to all but one

How did the SRs effect your mite counts?

[Tia]

Dave, I always hate to say this because people seem to think I'm lying, but I have no problem with varroa. The October sticky board test found no more than 5 in 24-hr period in any of my hives. I don't know if it's the FGMO, their access to brackish water (someone here said that part salt water ups the bees' immune system), the sbbs or the slatted racks, but I thank my lucky stars.

[Michael Bush]

>I always hate to say this because people seem to think I'm lying, but I have no problem with varroa.

No one thinks you're lying. They think you're mistaken if you aren't seen ANY Varroa. We all have some. But if you're testing and you are finding SOME (5 is some) and you know what they look like, then I would continue to do what you are doing. [img]smile.gif[/img]