have you switched from screened to solid bottom boards?

[julysun]

"Orienting bees would struggle to find the entrance, flying under the hive to the screen." Scporianmain
That is something that worries me. Always there seems to be many (150?) bees hanging out under my Screened Bottom Boards. Why? Well I plan to close the screens and see how that plays out. I have brushed them off a time or two, zip, right back under there. Wasted beepower to my mind, it has to change.

[Magnum12]

Have any of you guys gone from using screened bottom boards to solid? I started two years ago on screened, but looking to expand the solid sure are a lot cheaper. I'm not too concerned about using the screens for varroa checks, but I do like them for ventilation. What are some ways people increase ventilation when using solid bottom boards?

I am going to give it a shot with solids for a while. I will let you know what happens.

[Jon11]

I think I may get a couple of solid bottom boards too. If I can't see any difference, then I don't see the point in spending extra for the screened bottome boards

[Michael Bush]

>Always there seems to be many (150?) bees hanging out under my Screened Bottom Boards. Why?

For the same reason they beard on the front.

[beemandan]

The initial introduction of screened bottoms was not only to test for mites but also early studies suggested that they lowered the mite population by as much as 15%. Later studies have had a mix of results. I suppose, like everything else, it depends on location and year to year conditions and bee genetics and who knows what else.
I don’t like them. In my area where shb are an issue, I believe they make it more difficult for the bees to sequester the beetles and they allow beetle larvae an easier route to the soil to pupate.
The impact of ‘improved’ ventilation, in my opinion is of little or no consequence. As jmgi pointed out (one of our rare points of agreement) beekeepers survived in warm climates without screened bottoms for decades. Even today, in the middle of melon patches, under the blazing sun of S GA summer there will be dozens of pollinating hives….without screened bottoms.
Bee beards are a non issue. It is, again in my opinion, normal summer behavior. In my full sun, solid bottom, Georgia beeyards, I have rarely seen a midsummer abscond without some other significant issues. Plenty of big bee beards but no absconds.
I've tried screened bottoms boards, and my advice….save your money.

[Intheswamp]

Abbreviations... Solid bottom boards were the norm for decades (could say a century's worth of'em!) with no mention of screens...they were just called "bottom boards". Then came the screened bottom boards which were naturally called..."screened bottom boards". To me, BB means solid bottom boards and SBB means screened bottom boards. If I see "BB" I take is as a bottom board with no "Screen"...."SBB" has the "Screen" added. Of course in smaller circles, meaning my mentor and me, we refer to our screened bottom boards as simply bottom boards because that's our normal bottom board...I do have a few solid boards, but if I mention them to my mentor I refer to them as "Solid bottom boards". Beekeeping is local.

Ed

[Joes_bees]

I can get behind the BB vs SBB thing.

Beekeeping is local? I assume you mean the jargon used in a network of beekeepers? Because beekeeping itself is not necessarily local.

In response to the argument (and many like it) saying bottom boards are best because that's what we've done for 100s of years. And there are plenty of sayings to back this up, for example: "if it ain't broke don't fix it"

"However if you keep doing what you've always done, you'll always get what you have always got" (or what ever version you've heard) Time for a new thread...

[beemandan]

"However if you keep doing what you've always done, you'll always get what you have always got" (or what ever version you've heard)

Or...'Change for the sake of change is a sure path to failure.' (Or whatever version you've heard)

[Intheswamp]

I can get behind the BB vs SBB thing.

Beekeeping is local? I assume you mean the jargon used in a network of beekeepers? Because beekeeping itself is not necessarily local.

In response to the argument (and many like it) saying bottom boards are best because that's what we've done for 100s of years. And there are plenty of sayings to back this up, for example: "if it ain't broke don't fix it"

"However if you keep doing what you've always done, you'll always get what you have always got" (or what ever version you've heard) Time for a new thread...

Er, beekeeping itself *is* pretty much local. I'm going to overwinter my bees with maybe a single 8-frame super of honey on them...they'll be on screened bottom boards though I may wrap the cement blocks, I just put an external hive still attached to the limb in a couple of hive boxes the other day and peeked into them yesterday (it was cold!...in the mid-40's) and they looked good, I've got another colony we cut out a little over a month ago and they're doing great. Still got some goldenrod and plenty of asters along with some tarweed and the odd flower blooming. I will have bees flying pretty much all winter long so no problems with them not being able to take cleansing flights, No moisture problems to note. We will have to deal with some freezing temperatures...might even dip into the teens a night or two but mostly in the upper 20's and lower 30's...we even get some long freezing spells with the temperature dipping below freezing for 4-5 nights in a row! I have to beware of SHB and I keep traps out for them...they are a problem. I'm looking at my swarm season as being April-May...depending on this crazy weather we're having, my white camillia tree is already blooming and it should be waiting until after Christmas.<sigh> We'll have the extractor cleaned up and ready the first part of May.

I take it that your beekeeping conditions are pretty much the same as mine? Or, are my conditions more local to my area than they are to yours?

Ed

[Mr. C]

I built interchangeable bottom boards out of scrap 2x4s and like the options they give me. In the winter and spring I have a solid bottom on below the screen. In the summer I pull the bottom board out for ventilation. Sure bees can regulate the temperature on their own, but the more bees I have fanning the fewer I have collecting nectar. I also had some issues with bees not doing a great job cleaning out hive trash a couple of times, especially when the entrances were reduced to avoid robbing issues. The build up started to attrach moths and beetles that the bees weren't taking care of, the screen prevented that nicely and made for easy cleanup. I've been happy with my compromise, they do take more time to build, and cost a smidge more, but I use mostly scrap either way. I've only got a dozen hives so it doesn't bother me to spend a bit of extra time building stuff.

Pics, I posted these a while ago, don't remember where. There all under hives now.
http://s1113.beta.photobucket.com/us...86497000298724

[Solomon Parker]

Have any of you guys gone from using screened bottom boards to solid?

I did, years ago. They don't help with varroa and they over-ventilate the hive. Bees will abandon the bottom section of comb because they can't regulate the temperature.

What are some ways people increase ventilation when using solid bottom boards?

A normal bottom entrance and an upper entrance is more than enough.

[scorpionmain]

...Bees will abandon the bottom section of comb because they can't regulate the temperature.

I noticed that too.
I was thinking it was because of the light. The bees preferring the dark of the inner hive, but you are probably right with the temperature regulation.

[Joes_bees]

Beekeeping can be local. Beekeeping can also be migratory. But we're just wasting time on semantics now, I get your point.