Screen -vs- Solid bottom boards

[crazy8days]

I'm needing to build some bottom boards.  All my hives have SBB but after reading a few post I'm considering solid bottoms.  Like to hear what everyone thinks.  What works best for you.

[Perry]

I started out with solids, made a bunch of screened ones, and am now phasing them out in favour of solids again.
The only advantage I have found with the screened ones is for doing mite counts, and in the winter by looking at the debris to see where the cluster is located, but other than that I find them to be moth and ant havens.

[tefer2]

For us, the benefits of a solid bottom board.
Stays warmer in the winter
Brood earlier in spring
More brood in bottom box
No clumps of bees under hive
No ants eating debris under stand
Better results applying mite treatments
No holes poked into screen while moving
Cheaper to build or buy

Benefits of screened bottom board
Dead mites fall to ground
Can open in summer to cool hive
Can find your queen under hive
Empties your wallet faster
Smell helps robbers empty stores in no time flat!

[blueblood]

Yeap, what they said.  The only two screened bottom I have in the yard were dead-outs and I brought the bottom in the shop to modify them to solid.  I make bottom board like Perry.  Quick and easy.

[barry42001]

the original benefit that was stated was ventilation, all the mite stuff with an added " benefit ". down here in Florida I've used screened bottom boards but no more, I find that they aren't open doorway for every manner of pest that can squeeze through the screen. down here are big problem with ants are fire ants. once they get started unless your colony is absolutely huge and can quell the invasion from the start they will destroy your colony. at least if the ant have to come in from one common direction that the bees can defend.

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[GLOCK]

I have SBBs on all my nucs and DBL. deeps and it has been a crazy cold winter  with temps. as low as -40 WC .
I just let the insert in till JULY and then SEPT. I put the inserts back in works ok for me.

[Gypsi]

Screened makes beekeeping easier for me, to check for mites, to check for robbing, I don't have a lot of time, I defend the hives from fire ants by water trough or oiled pipe and the ventilation is vital in summer. This winter has been our coldest that I remember, the hives are alive, all have sbb.  I bought 2 have built the rest, I like mine better than the ones I buy. (except the one nuc sbb that I got from Russell and I think it came from a guy in Indiana who might be on here, his is really MUCH MUCH better than the ones by mann lake, etc.

[BoilerJim]

Hey Crazy,

I guess I use screened BB because a few years ago I went into winter with four hives and came out with two. The two that made it had screen bottom boards and I attributed it due to better ventilation. I know now there were other things that doomed the two that didn’t make it. I have stayed the course mainly due to superstition. I know that is a silly reason. I am intrigued with Perry’s comment, “but other than that I find them to be moth and ant havens” Perry, by having screen bottom boards does that invite moths? I have had problems with them on occasion. No ant problems though.

[DLMKA]

All my bottom boards are screen right now, I have had acceptable wintering success with them left open but I struggle keeping the brood nest in the bottom box, the quit using the bottom box completely and come late summer when I pull supers I either have to leave an extra box on or feed like crazy to force them back down and leave enough stores. Building a handful of solid bottoms this year to use on a trial basis.

[tefer2]

For me, every year we would wait till later and later in the spring to pull the inserts.
Turned out to be the end of May early June before they started using the bottom box.
Then, in August we would replace them again after pulling honey.
Just figured that only having then in a couple of months wasn't worth it.

We also moved to vented inner covers for July and August to solve overheating.
The few that I have left now have an insulated permanent inserts attached.
For mite counts, we found that an alcohol wash gave us much better results than looking at dead mites on the insert.

[robo]

Climate plays a big part in beekeeping, so beekeepers have vastly different approaches to keeping bees.  Personally I find no benefit to SBB.

http://www.worldwidebeekeeping.com/forum/index.php/topic,351.msg3350.html#msg3350

[Perry]

Hey Jim:
Because the bees have no access to the tray under the screened bottom boards, ants are in there like crazy feeding on all the debris. What really changed my mind was going to scrape some of the crud off on a few of my trays and having it come off in one piece like a chunk of carpet! 
It was riddled with webbing.

[Leather Jim]

Any of you have SHB? They got bad in my area last year so I'm running screens on the bottom with oil trays under, took care of the problem. This set up doesn't really let much air in through the bottom.

[heinleinfan]

I actually use both.  I have screened then under that solid.  I can get my mite counts and control and a bit of good ventilation, but then it's not too much for our brutal winter and I don't get as many pests.  I only have 2 to 3 hives each year though, so it's not too expensive for me to have two bottoms on every hive.

[Bsweet]

For us, the benefits of a solid bottom board.
Stays warmer in the winter
Brood earlier in spring
More brood in bottom box
No clumps of bees under hive
No ants eating debris under stand
Better results applying mite treatments
No holes poked into screen while moving
Cheaper to build or buy

Benefits of screened bottom board
Dead mites fall to ground
Can open in summer to cool hive
Can find your queen under hive
Empties your wallet faster
Smell helps robbers empty stores in no time flat!

Agree with this answer.
When I lived in Tulsa Ok. the screened bb helped with ventilation BUT the ants found it easy to enter the hive anywhere in the bottom. Now that I'm in Idaho I have gone to solid bb for less venting and an earlier spring start( they seem to move into the bottom box sooner). The bottom boards I use now looks alot like and inner cover which makes the entrance smaller as in 3/8 x 2  which takes fewer guard bees and still allows the hive to clean out trash and dead then I have 1 inch holes drilled in my deeps just below the handholds/cleats for entrances. Jim

[Woody Roberts]

Any of you have SHB? They got bad in my area last year so I'm running screens on the bottom with oil trays under, took care of the problem. This set up doesn't really let much air in through the bottom.

I run the IPK trap from green beehives. This consists of a # 6 alum mesh with an oil tray beneath. No real ventilation here and my bees work right to the bottoms of the frames.

We have plenty of SHB here but with these bottoms I don't give them a second thought.

I believe where I am ventilation is overrated. As long as there's a breather hole at the top or a top entrance the bees will regulate the temp just fine.

I'll step on some toes here. I've often read where bees would be bearding heavy and someone would open the screen and the bee would all go back inside.

My theory is that the bees were outside because they didn't have anything to do. The hive temp was right where they wanted it. When you remove the sticky board they had to go back to work to control the temp in the hive.
I like to see my bees beard.
Just my opinion.

[Gypsi]

I like Heinleinfan's system, but I also have few hives so the expense is not a problem

[tbonekel]

I use all solid bottoms. I thought about trying screened for no other reason than for ventilation in the summer. My hives sat in full sun last summer with temps between 105 and 110. They didn't seem to have any problem at all with solids. I'm sticking with them.

[LazyBkpr]

I use all solid bottoms. I thought about trying screened for no other reason than for ventilation in the summer. My hives sat in full sun last summer with temps between 105 and 110. They didn't seem to have any problem at all with solids. I'm sticking with them.

   After talking with MANY folks nearby that use them I could not come to a reasonable conclusion. Some people LIKE them, some HATE them, and often their reasons are biased based on problems that may have been caused by other things..
   I would like to use them for the ventilation in the summer..   Like TBone it gets HOT here at times, but my bees seemed to manage fine.. two things prevented me from trying them..
   Wax moths are HORRIBLE here by mid summer, and I have seen slides with dozens of wax moth larvae on them...
   WINDS here on the plains also get ugly, so I fear I would be constantly opening them and closing them..
   I decided that it was just one more thing to worry and fuss with and have never tried them...

[rcannon]

I started out with a few of each. Noticing that the hives on the solid boards built up faster, I started slowly phasing out the screen boards. I pulled my last one off yesterday and the bees had almost propolized it completely closed. That tells me all I need to know about screen bottoms.