Alternative Floor

[jenkinsbrynmair]

Now firing on all three cylinders!! so construction plans have been made. Excuse them being a bit simplistic but I think I've covered everything.

 

[scuttlefish]

Thanks for sharing!

I'm going to have a go at that if I can get hold of some mesh...

 

[BeeJayBee]

Thanks for sharing!

I'm going to have a go at that if I can get hold of some mesh...

Thanks

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

It's a pleasure to be of assistance to someone else
And Scuttlefish - comiserations for yesterday, great match though - the best of the weekend regardless of the final score

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

I'm going to have a go at that if I can get hold of some mesh...[/QUOTE]

try fleabay - that's where i get mine from good quality and reasonable price

 

[scuttlefish]

And Scuttlefish - comiserations for yesterday, great match though - the best of the weekend regardless of the final score

Cheers - silly penalty to give away at the end though, so there can't really be any complaints about the result

 

[REDWOOD]

Brill, I think you are firing on all cylinders on a V12 turbo charged engine just like the Wales team, the plans are great, simplicity is always the best way, easy to follow and easy to read and I will be making a few this spring, thanks again for this.
PS you could call this floor something like snowless entrance

 

[fatshark]

Now firing on all three cylinders!! so construction plans have been made. Excuse them being a bit simplistic but I think I've covered everything.

I've built them like this ... the only slight difference I could recommend is moving the rails for the Varroa tray up until it is right beneath the rear batten. Then, with the tray in place it's far less draughty and the Apiguard gets to work a little more effectively.

White Correx (from "For Sale" signs perhaps) makes excellent Varroa trays.

Wholly unscientific observation suggests to me these are better than a standard floor late in the season when wasps are a nuisance.

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

I've built them like this ... the only slight difference I could recommend is moving the rails for the Varroa tray up until it is right beneath the rear batten. Then, with the tray in place it's far less draughty and the Apiguard gets to work a little more effectively.

White Correx (from "For Sale" signs perhaps) makes excellent Varroa trays.

Wholly unscientific observation suggests to me these are better than a standard floor late in the season when wasps are a nuisance.

fair comment on the first point but there isn't that much room betweeen the back rail and the inspection board anyway and the L shaped fascias I use closes the gap nicely - you could always just make the bottom rail deeper?
If using correx, if you fix a batten to one end, again you'll probably close the gap up.
The theory with wasps is the bees have two lines of defence - first on the landing board and secondly at the top of the entrance gap: the bees can catch ms waspie as she pokes her head over the top. Last summer I had three hives together - one nuc with a standard 10mm entrance, one national with a solid wood floor (whilst i was completing an omf one and one hive with the dartington type entrance, I watched the wasps continually trying to enter the nuc and the hive with standard entrance, they never went near the Dartington, so I would agree they may be better at combating wasps

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

Brill, I think you are firing on all cylinders on a V12 turbo charged engine just like the Wales team, the plans are great, simplicity is always the best way, easy to follow and easy to read and I will be making a few this spring, thanks again for this.
PS you could call this floor something like snowless entrance

Again - glad to help, I don't know if I've asked before, but what sort of fishing do you do? I'm secretary of the local angling club we fish river (Cothi, Towy and Aman) and a bit of stillwaters, used to do a lot of sea fishing but I haven't now for quite a while

 

[Hombre]

Excellent drawings jenkinsbrynmair. My entrances are slightly different and range from Correx, plywood or twin wall polycarb as shown.

This year I am also going to route the sides and back of new build floors to take the mesh and will *load the grooves with silicone sealant on assembly. Note: The mesh should normally be 10 to 15mm below the level of the top edges of the floor.

My back is currently full depth (without varroa tray access - to be fixed)

* Similar construction used to make Ashforth type feeders (6mm ply bottom, not mesh!), with 8mm bottom bee space.

I have a jig improvement program which is due to commence any time soon . . .

 

[scuttlefish]

Note: The mesh should normally be 10 to 15mm below the level of the top edges of the floor.

Is that not going to give you too much space? I had a floor with too much space below the frames a couple of years ago and the bees kept filling it with drone comb.

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

Is that not going to give you too much space? I had a floor with too much space below the frames a couple of years ago and the bees kept filling it with drone comb.

I suppose it depends on whether you have top or bottom space hives - Mine are bottom space so my mesh is just fixed to the floor leaving enough space around the rails for the brood box to rest on

 

[oliver90owner]

10-15mm is nothing to worry about. Think. Normal entrance block is about 22mm and there is then the choice of top or bottom bee space which may add another few mm.

RAB

 

[drstitson]

22mm entrance block height PLUS bottom bee space = around 30mm.

and of course our Teutonic cousins are big proponents of the high floor where we're talking 6cm or so.

and as i think MM stated, a bigger gap leaves more room for bees during manipulations such as shook swarms.

 

[scuttlefish]

10-15mm is nothing to worry about. Think.

RAB

I am thinking... about the hassle of having drone comb hanging off the bottom of my brood frames.

 

[oliver90owner]

I am thinking... about the hassle of having drone comb hanging off the bottom of my brood frames.

Really? Kept bees long? That sort of space (30mm) has been around for a century, or more? Don't you think someone would have designed it differently by now if it was such a problem? But there, they were quite good at using the well tried and tested bits from other hives when the British Standard was drawn up. The design was a rationalised collection of the best available designs of the time.

 

[scuttlefish]

I am thinking... about the hassle of having drone comb hanging off the bottom of my brood frames.

Really? Kept bees long? That sort of space (30mm) has been around for a century, or more?

Three years - which is why I set out the issue I had experienced when I asked the question in the first place of some of the more experienced keepers on this thread. Thanks for your help.

 

[REDWOOD]

I belong to pontardawe & swansea angling society but I hve not done any fishing for the last 2 years as I took up beekeeping, now I have got the grips of it (eeeeerrrrrr) I will be dusting of my fly rods this year

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

I belong to pontardawe & swansea angling society but I hve not done any fishing for the last 2 years as I took up beekeeping, now I have got the grips of it (eeeeerrrrrr) I will be dusting of my fly rods this year

PM Jones used to be the sec I believe - I worked with him years ago