Hello All, I would like to replace the solid bottom board on my colony with the new IPM bottom board that Brushy Mountain demonstrated at the Virginia State Convention in June. I have my colony sitting on concrete (cinder?) blocks, with the bottom board directly on top of the front block, and a piece of 3/4" stock under the bottom board on the rear block for rain and condensate runoff. I would like to raise the hive a little bit off the ground further than the concrete blocks afford, and without stacking more blocks on top of the existing ones. Would it be practical to build a 4 legged pressure treated wood stand similar to a table without a top, and built to the proper dimensions such that the edges of the bottom board rest on the horizontal sides of the table? This would raise the colony about 2 feet off the ground, giving plenty of ventilation for the hot August I'm expecting. On a side note, at our meeting last night of the Tidewater Beekeepers Association, one of our members gave a talk on commercial beekeepers in Florida, and one gentleman's way of dealing with the SHB. He used a trough type chicken feeder, with the roller removed, and put it at the front of the bottom board, so that when the SHB larvae crawled out of the entrance, and dropped off the front of the board, they fell into the trough, into which he had put plain water. He said that of all the liquides he had tried, water had worked the best. The bees don't have a problem, because they can walk up the sides of the feeder, but the larvae drown because they can't swim. According to the report from our member, this beekeeper has a relatively minor problem with the SHB. I'm not saying this will work for everyone, and I have to say I have not seen it in operation, I'm only repeating what I remember him saying from last night's meeting, but it certainly sounds like a better system than coumophos and the hazards that implies with handling, disposal, eventual resistance. I don't think the SHB can evolve to the point where it developes underwater breathing capability any time soon. Thanks! Joseph A. Clark President, Tidewater Beekeepers Association Portsmouth, VA 23701-1325