Peter Borst,

                                                        8 mesh screen bottom
boards compared with solid wood bottom boards.

In April of 2000, I put 10 colonies on 8 mesh screen bottoms and kept 10
other colonies in the same apiary on solid wood bottom board.  All 20
colonies were in 3
medium bodies (I have not used any deeps in 20 years), all had an upper
entrance in the inner cover edge, no colony had a front entrance reducer (
haven't used those in over 60 years based on instructions from Dr. James I.
Hambleton), all colonies had stores of 70+ pounds of honey for stores during
winter of 2000-2001.

There was very little difference between the 20 colonies in the spring of
2001. When I started reversing brood boxes in February, I only moved the top
body down into the position of the # 2 body rather than the # 1 body,
However, about mid March, I begin switching the #3 body of capped brood down
to the #1 body position.
Both groups of 10 colonies were about the same strength in the spring, and
the April 1st sticky board mite count was almost identical, no colony had
more than 10 mites
on the sticky board for a 24 hour period with one strip of Apistan placed in
each colony bottom box.

Although I am a scientist, and this test was very poor testing by scientific
standards, it was good enough for me to convert all my colonies to an 8 mesh
screened bottom board for the future.

I have ALWAYS believed in GOOD HIVE VENTILATION rather than a semi-closed
colony for good winter survival, so I was not surprised with the results at
all.  All colonies have all supers removed before July 4th, all colonies are
treated with MENTHOL for tracheal mites on August 15th (never in September),
all colonies are requeened on September 1st, all colonies have 4 strips of
Apistan installed on October 1st and removed close to Thanksgiving, and a
rarely lose a colony in the winter

My location is Rockville, Maryland, which is 15 miles north of President
Bush's WHITE HOUSE.

You are at Cornell.  You can ask Dr. Nick Calderone about me, because he
knows my
"credentials" (I hate that word)

George Imirie
69 years of beekeeping in Maryland
EAS Master Beekeeper
Author of George's PINK PAGES