I have them in year round, but I am in NY.
Do beekeepers in your area only use screened bottom boards because of the heat in Arkansas? They are really no different than a solid bottome board, perhaps even a little more vented around the edges.
I run a screened board over my solid boards so I have a clear, protected slot for the sticky board part. This allows me to have the slot open towards the back of the hive which makes pulling the stickies completely out of the bees' faces. I often do it in the evening when I am busy with other stuff. They completely ignore what happens behind the hive.
It's a very useful practice to do counts regularly, all season. Even though I keep the boards in all the time, I do a formal 72-hour check once per week. This gives me an excellent idea of the state of affairs. Occasional or even worse, seasonal, sticky counts are not very useful since unlike rolls you're not counting the number of mites on the bees, only the number of mites that have fallen down on to the boards. For that number to be useful, actionable, info you need to know what it was last week, the week before, etc., because that gives you a dynamic view of the mite population.
Since it's dead easy (though it takes a bit of practice to get speedy at counting them), it can easily be accomplished if you don't have a lot of hives. I really like knowing my mite numbers - good or bad - because then I feel less worried that something unforeseen is about to happen. Also don't panic if you have a sudden sharp increase: immediately re-do the test, checking every 24 hours for three days. I monitored constantly last summer and occasionally, for whatever reason, there would be a an uptick that wasn't repeated on immediate re-testing. If the higher numbers are seen on back-to-back tests over the following days, then you may need to make some decsions, though.
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Do beekeepers in your area only use screened bottom boards because of the heat in Arkansas? They are really no different than a solid bottome board, perhaps even a little more vented around the edges.
I run a screened board over my solid boards so I have a clear, protected slot for the sticky board part. This allows me to have the slot open towards the back of the hive which makes pulling the stickies completely out of the bees' faces. I often do it in the evening when I am busy with other stuff. They completely ignore what happens behind the hive.
It's a very useful practice to do counts regularly, all season. Even though I keep the boards in all the time, I do a formal 72-hour check once per week. This gives me an excellent idea of the state of affairs. Occasional or even worse, seasonal, sticky counts are not very useful since unlike rolls you're not counting the number of mites on the bees, only the number of mites that have fallen down on to the boards. For that number to be useful, actionable, info you need to know what it was last week, the week before, etc., because that gives you a dynamic view of the mite population.
Since it's dead easy (though it takes a bit of practice to get speedy at counting them), it can easily be accomplished if you don't have a lot of hives. I really like knowing my mite numbers - good or bad - because then I feel less worried that something unforeseen is about to happen. Also don't panic if you have a sudden sharp increase: immediately re-do the test, checking every 24 hours for three days. I monitored constantly last summer and occasionally, for whatever reason, there would be a an uptick that wasn't repeated on immediate re-testing. If the higher numbers are seen on back-to-back tests over the following days, then you may need to make some decsions, though.
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