correx under omf in or out?

[8ace]

What do most of you guys do?

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

It should be out at all times unless doing a mite count

 

[Tremyfro]

It should be out at all times unless doing a mite count

If you have a long hive with a big OMF......and live in a very windy place....would it be wise to close some of it?

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

Probably - long hives work totally different to a conventional setup

 

[madasafish]

I leave my bottom boards in all the time in my TBHs. Only in Langs for varroa counts.

A comparison side by side in my first year showed that TBHs without bottom boards are much slower to grow in spring..and don't use frames more than 2/3rds down the hive.. Whilst with a bottom board they use the entire hive depth..

 

[Gilberdyke John]

If you have a long hive with a big OMF......and live in a very windy place....would it be wise to close some of it?

Is it possible to provide a windbreak such as a bush or hedge? Preferably an evergreen.

 

[dexter's shed]

Is it possible to provide a windbreak such as a bush or hedge? Preferably an evergreen.

how long would that take to grow ??
better go for a man made jobby

 

[wessexmario]

"in or out"?
Neither. I keep my board mostly in, with just a one inch gap open.

Given that bees prefer homes with a maximum entrance of no more than a few square inches, I think that having the whole OMF open to the air is probably too much ventilation. They're perfectly capable of controlling their own temperature and humidity if it gets too warm or cool by using muscle activity, fanning or water evaporation, but some ventilation is needed to avoid mould from damp.

In our climate, the hive being too cool is much more likely than being too warm, warmth helping with maintaining the brood temperature, wax building and honey ripening.

 

[enrico]

Doesn't that sort of make a nonsense of having OMF at all? Might as well have a solid floor!
E

 

[wessexmario]

no, because the purpose of the OMF is to allow the varroa to drop through. (and when it gets here, SHB)

Whether the mites fall through to the ground under the hive, or get caught by getting stuck on the oily board makes little difference, the OMF means they are removed from contact with the bees in the hive, instead of being picked up, or climbing up, from a solid floor.


I must add that my floor boxes are the depth of shallows, so the boards are much further below the OMF than the commercially available mesh floors.

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

maybe that's why my hives are ram jammed with bees with brood on eleven plus frames - better put them inspection boards back in.

Of course it will be totally different when SHB arrives - the detritus collecting on the inspection boards being the ideal place for them to thrive

 

[wessexmario]

that's the beauty of beekeeping - 1001 ways of doing it.

I'm using the boards as traps, as well as inspection boards.
As my hives are in my garden, the boards get inspected and cleaned every few days (it gives me something to do without opening the hives)
From "reading the boards" I'm also learning a lot about the daily activity in the hives, as the many different types of debris under each seam tells a story.

I agree that this approach might not be appropriate for out-apiaries.

 

[Tremyfro]

Is it possible to provide a windbreak such as a bush or hedge? Preferably an evergreen.

Eventually....the bushes will grow....it's a new Bee Yard...so having to plan and install everything. There will be a 8x8 shed which provide some protection and there will be fences. We plan on attaching some trellis to slow the wind but we can't put up anything solid as the wind will blow it down. Probably be seen in the next county! Even keeping the inspection boards in for monitoring has been a challenge for the poly hives. In a long hive the varroa mesh is a large area....although I don't have bees in them yet...I have been thinking of the heat loss and drafts affecting the bees. On balance....reducing the exposed area may be the way to go. As long as the varroa can fall through the mesh....and out of the hive area.

 

[Honeybeeco]

We leave our boards out all the time except for :-

Very cold, windy Winter when we close them down for duration of the cold/ wind which might be for a day or 2 only.

When it's early in the season and hives feel light or they are over wintering nucs and it's very windy - 93mph recorded in our garden in February, we close them down for a few days.

Small Nucs over winter where we close them down from november till it warms up in feb / April.

Oh, and when doing mite counts, checking hive activity by seeing droppings from hive etc.

 

[MerryBee]

no, because the purpose of the OMF is to allow the varroa to drop through.

I recently went to an interesting talk by Prof Keith Delaplane of Georgia university. He made the suggestion that the benefit of an OMF in varroa control is not simply because some of the varroa fall out of the hive and cannot return.
It may be that the increased ventilation makes it more difficult for the phoretic mites to detect the "smell" of brood cells about to be capped, and that therefore they are less successful at reproducing.
More research needed!