Allen Dick wrote:

> We have talked about propolizing, and that apparently is not a problem, but I
> wonder what kind of maintenance is required to keep the screens reasonably clean
> over time and what the act of cleaning them is like.

From my experience there is almost no scraping required. The bees seem to regard the
screen as something they don't need to deal with. It's only when you get grass or
other plants growing against it that the bees start to seal with propolis.

To keep hives on pallets well off the ground works good, and you will need that
anyway to get the ventilation to work through the bottom.

> When we use solid bottoms for several years, a lot of junk piles up unless it is
> scraped off.  When we cut comb and it falls into the hive or the bees chew off
> comb, it falls to the bottom and sits there.  Usually, it builds up or is made
> into stools.

What falls down from inside the hive is carried out by the bees. But I guess the
cleaning behaviour of the local bees will have influence on this. I seldom see what
you refer to, rather the opposite. Some of them even nibble off the paint from my
bottom boards during spring cleaning......

So basically you only need to keep weed away from the screen.

--
Regards

P-O Gustafsson, Sweden
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