Joe - thanks for the comments..... >I have Wintered my bees with mesh floors the last couple of years and >they haven't objected. Hereabouts damp is supposed to be more of a >problem than cold. I have heard the opinion expressed that open >floors may slow Spring build-up due to reduced temperature. What flavour of hives are you using? I'm on modified commercial. My master plan is to build some nice floors that allow slide-in units to help varroa detection and will let me swap between open mesh and solid floors at will. Do you have any experience with anything like this. Cheers, -- Alyn W. Ashworth Lancashire & North-West Bee-Keepers' Association. UK. (but I don't speak on their bee-half)