Hello All,

I would like to replace the solid bottom board on my colony with
the new IPM bottom board that Brushy Mountain demonstrated
at the Virginia State Convention in June.

I have my colony sitting on concrete (cinder?) blocks, with the
bottom board directly on top of  the front block, and a piece of 3/4"
stock under the bottom board on the rear block for rain and condensate
runoff.

I would like to raise the hive a little bit off the ground further than the
concrete blocks afford, and without stacking more blocks on top of
the existing ones.

Would it be practical to build a 4 legged pressure treated wood
stand similar to a table without a top, and built to the proper
dimensions such that the edges of the bottom board rest on
the horizontal sides of the table?   This would raise the colony
about 2 feet off the ground, giving plenty of ventilation for the
hot August I'm expecting.

On a side note, at our meeting last night of the Tidewater Beekeepers
Association, one of our members gave a talk on commercial
beekeepers in Florida, and one gentleman's way of dealing with the
SHB.  He used a trough type chicken feeder, with the roller removed, and
put it at the front of the bottom board, so that when the SHB larvae crawled
out of the entrance, and dropped off the front of the board, they fell into the
trough, into which he had put plain water.  He said that of all the liquides he
had tried, water had worked the best.  The bees don't have a problem, because
they can walk up the sides of the feeder, but the larvae drown because they
can't
swim.  According to the report from our member, this beekeeper has a relatively
minor problem with the SHB.

I'm not saying this will work for everyone, and I have to say I have not
seen it in
operation, I'm only repeating what I remember him saying from last night's
meeting,
but it certainly sounds like a better system than coumophos and the hazards
that implies with handling, disposal, eventual resistance.  I don't think
the SHB can
evolve to the point where it developes underwater breathing capability any
time soon.

Thanks!

Joseph A. Clark
President, Tidewater Beekeepers Association
Portsmouth, VA 23701-1325