soarwitheagles
True BYH Addict
How to make a Screened Bottom Board for pennies
We have tried both solid and screened bottom boards.
We live in a part of California where winters are fairly mild, so I suppose that is a big factor.
Solid BB's did not work so well for us for a number of reasons...
1. Lots of crap built up on the bottom and this invited unwelcome visitors.
2. Too hot in summers, causing massive bearding, which is proven to reduce bee honey/brood production.
3. No way to easily read the varroa mite count.
3. Much heavier when lifting entire hives.
4. Use much, much more wood that screened!
5. Considering the extra wood costs, it was more expensive.
I found a way to build the sticky screened bottom boards for pennies...
We used scrap:
1x2 for the side rails.
1x4 for inner connectors.
3/4"x3/4" risers.
1/8" screen.
3/16" corroplast [massive amounts are free every two years after elections].
The largest complaints on screened bottom boards I have read about are costs and time.
Without paint and screens and staples, this version of the screen bottom board costs us less than 25 cents. With screen and paint and staples, maybe $2 at the most. A local bee supply was asking $60+ for their screen bottom boards. I think Mann Lake has some for $21.50.
Time was really not much of a factor once the machines were set up to cut and router.
Once all the parts were cut, the build time for this screened bottom board was about three minutes. The solid boards required about two minutes.
Largest time factor for us was actually the priming and painting!
I am posting more pics of these screened bottom boards. So simple, so easy to build, so inexpensive, yet so incredibly effective for our specific location and needs...
And I do apologize for being such a terrible artist! I did my best to assist the returning mated queens find their way home...
Any thoughts?
We have tried both solid and screened bottom boards.
We live in a part of California where winters are fairly mild, so I suppose that is a big factor.
Solid BB's did not work so well for us for a number of reasons...
1. Lots of crap built up on the bottom and this invited unwelcome visitors.
2. Too hot in summers, causing massive bearding, which is proven to reduce bee honey/brood production.
3. No way to easily read the varroa mite count.
3. Much heavier when lifting entire hives.
4. Use much, much more wood that screened!
5. Considering the extra wood costs, it was more expensive.
I found a way to build the sticky screened bottom boards for pennies...
We used scrap:
1x2 for the side rails.
1x4 for inner connectors.
3/4"x3/4" risers.
1/8" screen.
3/16" corroplast [massive amounts are free every two years after elections].
The largest complaints on screened bottom boards I have read about are costs and time.
Without paint and screens and staples, this version of the screen bottom board costs us less than 25 cents. With screen and paint and staples, maybe $2 at the most. A local bee supply was asking $60+ for their screen bottom boards. I think Mann Lake has some for $21.50.
Time was really not much of a factor once the machines were set up to cut and router.
Once all the parts were cut, the build time for this screened bottom board was about three minutes. The solid boards required about two minutes.
Largest time factor for us was actually the priming and painting!
I am posting more pics of these screened bottom boards. So simple, so easy to build, so inexpensive, yet so incredibly effective for our specific location and needs...
And I do apologize for being such a terrible artist! I did my best to assist the returning mated queens find their way home...
Any thoughts?
