Hello all,
I had screens on the 4 hives I took into winter-1 starved out, a cold snap
in the spring kept them from moving to the honey remaining in the hive, the
other was very small and went queenless.  We had such a late spring, I was
unaware of this until it was too late.  The hives were not open, but rather
the screen was between the bottom board and the bottom brood chamber. The
bottom board is reversed front to back and the insert forms the new lower
entrance. didn't feed this spring as it .  If I am not mistaken, bees cannot
get though 8 mesh but may be able to on 6 mesh.  As far as I know that is
the only reason.

Debris does build up on the screens.  I cleaned the screens and the bottom
board as I do each spring.  The mesh is not open sufficiently to allow all
debris to fall through.

As for spring, the two hives that survived, both built up very fast in spite
of the weather.  I split one of them and that one is now up to strength and
should be plenty strong to make the winter.  It is doing so well that I
pulled a frame of brood to entice a swarm to stay in an adjacent hive.  I
can't say with certainty that cause and effect is the mesh floors, but I
believe they helped.  In addition, we have had some very hot weather and
there are virtually bearding on the hives.

Coleene

----- Original Message -----
From: W. Allen Dick <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Tuesday, July 10, 2001 9:05 AM
Subject: Re: Varroa control


>
> I'm wondering:
>
> *  8 mesh is recommended, but 6 mesh harware cloth is cheap and strong
>    and widely available.  Is it satisfactory?  Or does the mesh need
>    to be finer?
>
> *  Is a bottom entrance necessary?  Some of us have auger holes in the
>    brood boxes.  Would they suffice for entrances?
>
> *  Does debris build up on the screens?  Is there wax or dead bees
>    after winter?  Or do the bees seem able to make everything fall
>    out the bottom?
>
> *  Has anyone noticed any adverse effect on spring build-up?
>
> allen
> http://www.internode.net/HoneyBee/Diary/
>