Greetings
I have been working at Cornell for three years now and we have tested
screened bottoms every summer. They have been tried in a variety of
situations. Last year they were tried on hives in four apiaries. Each
yard had 16 hives and half had screened bottoms, half did not. I did
not see or measure any beneficial effect from them. Infested hives
succumbed to mites at the same rate whether screens were present or
not.

The original studies done by the US government showed *no significant
difference* with or without. This result has been replicated by
Cornell studies, many times. The research community does not support
the idea that screened bottoms do anything alone; a few people say
that when used in connection with fumigants or apicides, they may
enhance the effect of these substances. I have asked this group
repeatedly to show studies proving their effectiveness.

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Peter Borst <[log in to unmask]>