> >Regardless of whether bees need ventilation in winter or not (I
> think they do),
> >in early spring in cold country they need to have that ventilation and hive
> >volume reduced and controlled if they are to build up early, or even in some
> >cases, even to survive.
>
> Would I understand from this that Open Mesh Floors must have some sort of
> board placed under or over them in spring to give the hive additional warmth.

Tom,

This is what I have been thinking and I have not seen any real suggestion or
design for what I suspect might be ideal.

Maybe I have just missed it, but in  my mind, a floor using an 8 mesh galvanized
hardware cloth surface for the full area and being about 1 inch below the bottom
of the frames would be ideal.

If designed well, a thin (1/4"?) solid bottom could slide in (either under or
over) whenever the open bottom was not considered desirable such as in late
winter and early spring.

Moreover, a solid bottom with a 30 square inch hole in it could be inserted
instead when only part of the screen area is needed, such as for winter.

Assuming the solid and semi-solid bottoms slid *under* the screen, either could
be painted white and greased or oiled, and give us a visual count of mites when
desired.

allen