cleaning bottom boards

[Zweefer]

How often do you clean your bottom boards (assuming you are using a solid bottom board that is)?
...And in anticipation of the answer, how do you know when it needs to be done? 

[tbonekel]

That's a really good question. I probably should have cleaned mine at the beginning of the spring, but I didn't.

[CpnObvious]

I kind of peered in this evening and was wondering the same thing. I'll be opening my hives on Saturday afternoon or Sunday sometime.  I think I'm gonna do mine then.

On a side note, I was also thinking about trying to mark my queens.

[pistolpete]

Once a year should be good enough.  In the spring I dump out all the dead bees to save the girls some work.   Otherwise the bee keep things very clean.

[LazyBkpr]

    I clean mine in the spring when I reverse. If I dont reverse I clean them anyhow. Any time you have "need" to pull the bottom box off the bottom board they can be cleaned.  Tilt them up, scrape em with the hive tool and put em back on. If you have extras you can swap in a new one instead of cleaning if the old one needs repainted, repaired etc.

[riverbee]

like pete and scott said zweefer, once a year, in the spring of the year if one reverses. like scott i don't reverse, i have extra bottom boards, i prefer to pull them and change them out to clean them up, (like to maintain them, check them, re-stain, repair, or replace) and i do it sometime during early spring months. like pete said, early spring clean it off to save the bees some work of the winter dead, from there on out, the bees are very tidy.  even if you didn't, they would take care of anything on the floor of the bottom board that they can remove and carry out the front door.

capn, you don't need to clean off your bottom board, you just hived your bees.  this is a great disruption to the bees and really unnecessary and your bottom board will probably be cleaner than your kitchen floor...... 

[blueblood]

I am guilty of not cleaning them in the spring unless there is a dead out, then I scrape them off.  River, it may have been you that mentioned this a long time ago, but didn't you use a coat hanger of sorts with a hook bend on one end?  Insert and claw back the debris from the front entrance without taking the bodies off?

[minz]

I switch the board every time I inspect.  If it is too skuzzy I take it home and clean it.  I am pulling the bottom deep and finding the queen each time though.  The top deep and the new bottom goes in its spot, like reversing every 10 to 14 days.

[CpnObvious]

The top deep and the new bottom goes in its spot, like reversing every 10 to 14 days.

Why?  Doesn't that mess with their patterns and the honey barrier?

[pistolpete]

Yes it does mess with the brood nest.  I don't think it's a good idea.

[riverbee]

i'm with pete, everytime we go into a hive we disrupt them, not to mention, dismantling hives and pulling the bottom board off.....just my HO....
the bees keep this clean, except for my winter months. 

minz, wow! every time you inspect you change the bottom board and reverse every 10-14 days?  okay, you are the first i have heard to do this..... please don't get me wrong, not criticizing, just very curious?

River, it may have been you that mentioned this a long time ago, but didn't you use a coat hanger of sorts with a hook bend on one end?  Insert and claw back the debris from the front entrance without taking the bodies off?

dave, i use an old 'slim jim'.........you know, the type you could unlock vehicles with.......

[Zweefer]

dave, i use an old 'slim jim'.........you know, the type you could unlock vehicles with.......

Obtained from her younger days of international espionage no doubt.   

[apisbees]

When opening up the bottom entrance to allow for greater bee movement and air circulation as the weather warms up you may find the bees have left some dead bees and debris behind the entrance block. this i scrap out with the hive tool like river uses the slimjim for. The bees will clean it out but it is quick and easy for me to do it for them and save them from having to do it.
All bee inspectors I have heard speak on the subject of spring management and cleaning the bottom board have all suggested that, the bottom board and dead out bees should be placed in a garbage bag and not just dumped in front of the hive in the bee yard. could be disease or virus spores in the dead bees and bottom board scrapings. I have heard inspectors speak about the importance of cleaning the bottom boards early before the bees start removing this debris and dumping it in front of the hive.

[LazyBkpr]

dave, i use an old 'slim jim'.........you know, the type you could unlock vehicles with.......

Obtained from her younger days of international espionage no doubt.   

   No, no.. it was when she ran a chop shop..   selling parts from stolen cars so she could afford to buy her beehives!

[riverbee]

"Obtained from her younger days of international espionage no doubt.    "

"No, no.. it was when she ran a chop shop..   selling parts from stolen cars so she could afford to buy her beehives!"

.........

apis brings up a good point about disease/spores; spring clean up of bottom boards or even winter dead outs, placing bees/ or material in a garbage bag.  i don't dump the bees out, mainly because of the bears, but have for years used a 5 gallon pail or a junky hive body with window screen taped on the bottom to scrape everything into, transfer it to a garbage bag or take it a great distance from the hive and dump it in the woods.  because my hives sit on pallets on a concrete base, i will sweep frequently any dead bee accumulation/debris or whatever they carry out the hive.

ps...that slim jim has been put to good use.... and it gets all the way to the back of a hive.

[minz]

minz, wow! every time you inspect you change the bottom board and reverse every 10-14 days?  okay, you are the first i have heard to do this..... please don't get me wrong, not criticizing, just very curious?

River, it may have been you that mentioned this a long time ago, but didn't you use a coat hanger of sorts with a hook bend on one end?  Insert and claw back the debris from the front entrance without taking the bodies off?

dave, i use an old 'slim jim'.........you know, the type you could unlock vehicles with.......

Demaree method of swarm control.  I got through the year with 0 swarms and 3 full Queen castles (4x2F). It is a lot of freaking work! Maybe find a better way next year.
You can hang up your slim jim, too much electronic locks to steal those radios anymore!

[rcannon]

I look down between the frames when inspecting. If the bottoms are nasty, I scrape them off with the hive tool. If the hive is strong and happy, I seldom have to clean them.
However, if the hive's a little weak and the bottom board is nasty the hive beetles will have found themselves an ideal nursery.