Pahl asked:

>> Here is a "stupid" question from new beekeeper.
>> Don't bees prefer it to be dark in the interior of the hive?
>> This would obviously not be the case when using screen bottoms.

...and Allen Dick added:

> And another from an old beekeeper:

> Do the bees tend to store more honey in the supers and tend
> to draw away from these cooler bottom boards?

This is only one person's view, and your mileage may vary, but I
have used varroa screens since 1997, and the bees have not
seemed to mind one bit.

As for "dark" versus "light" hive interiors, the bees appear to adjust
to just about any light level.  As anecdotal "proof", I can offer:

a)  I built a 6-frame observation hive for my home and created
     "blackout covers" to keep the bees in darkness when they
     were not being looked at.

b)  This year, we built and stocked a 9-frame observation hive for the
     visitor center at a local state park.  The glass was exposed at all
     times, and while not in direct sun, was certainly not "dark".  The bees
     were so productive, we were forced to remove frames of capped honey
     and replace them with foundation several times this spring and summer.

The bees exposed to "constant light" at the park seemed to be just as
productive as the bees in "dark".  There was no apparent reluctance to
move away from the well-lit areas to the less well-lit areas.  Brood patterns
and honey pollen storage were "per textbook" in both cases.

As for the question of "cooler", I have used screen bottom boards since
1998, and have not noticed any reluctance to utilize the lowest parts of
the bottom-most frames, but I must make several qualifications:

1)  I use 100% mediums.  I dunno what they would do in deeps.

2)  I have no screens open to the ground.  All have some sort of
     provision for a sticky board under the screen.  (You can't
     "control" something you don't "measure".)

3)  One cannot call Virginia "cold", even at its coldest.  Virginia
     "winters" remind me of New England's spring.  I have no idea
     what Bees would do in Thunder Bay Ontario in winter.

Again, I think bees are highly flexible creatures, who can adjust to
and thrive in a wide range of conditions.  Are varroa screens "good"
for bees?  Do they impact production?  I submit that they are much
less "intrusive" than putting a colony in an observation hive, but I
think that the bees are able to tolerate much more light (and/or cold
or draft) than they introduce.

        jim

        farmageddon