Is this mould?

[jenkinsbrynmair]

I'd wondered about putting a hinged board on the bottom of the UFE, extending the landing area for those who want it but also could be flapped/folded up for moving the hives between sites.

they usually fly straight in to the 'lobby' then straight up into the hive without landing at all.

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

they usually fly straight in to the 'lobby' then straight up into the hive without landing at all. The bottom board is totally superfluous but very handy when closing the hives up for moving

 

[Wilco]

You're having a few duplicates today!

Yes, same with mine- my purpose for doing it would be to make it easy to shut for movement between sites rather than duct tape or sponges, just further function would be added for those wanting landing boards if that tickled their fancy.

 

[Erichalfbee]

they usually fly straight in to the 'lobby' then straight up into the hive without landing at all.

Coming out in a hurry they often end up wriggling on their backs before they right themselves, though

 

[RogerIvy]

I built a landing board for my hive that didn’t have one, it was quite windy today but the bees were pretty active. Usually in wind this hive becomes inactive. Before I attached the board (yesterday) I noticed that when it became crowded many bees dropped to the grass while trying to get in. It wasn’t windy yesterday but the board seemed to help them queue more effectively. My opening is about 5-6cm wide.

 

[user 20297]

they usually fly straight in to the 'lobby' then straight up into the hive without landing at all.

You've got agile and determined bees if they all fly a full ninety degree turn into a nine millimetre vertical passage without touching the timber. With the deeper than average landing board on the excellent underfloor of your own design, why wouldn't bees use it for deceleration. Very few of my bees make a perfect bullseye into the entrance on a conventional opening even though this requires no special aerobatics from them.

I agree though, they don't actually need a landing/alighting board

 

[Swarm]

I built a landing board for my hive that didn’t have one, it was quite windy today but the bees were pretty active. Usually in wind this hive becomes inactive. Before I attached the board (yesterday) I noticed that when it became crowded many bees dropped to the grass while trying to get in. It wasn’t windy yesterday but the board seemed to help them queue more effectively. My opening is about 5-6cm wide.

You've hit on the benefit they offer the bees, they help with undershooting and often dying in the wet grass. A membrane tacked to the front of stands will do the same job as well.

 

[Boston Bees]

You've hit on the benefit they offer the bees, they help with undershooting and often dying in the wet grass. A membrane tacked to the front of stands will do the same job as well.

Exactly. Don't know what this argument is about really. Of course landing boards make life a bit easier for the bees. A hive on a stand, without a landing board, presents heavily laden bees with something that they would rarely come across in nature - an entrance hole with nothing but a void below it. We all know that once a bee has flown down into grass/weeds, its chances of getting back up again are significantly reduced.

A colony in a tree, or in a wall cavity, has a natural landing board that goes all the way to the ground, in the shape of the tree/wall itself.

So, are landing boards essential? Of course not. Do they increase the number of forager bees successfully returning to the hive to some extent? Of course they do.

UFEs, of course, have landing boards by default

 

[RogerIvy]

Agree. And it would be interesting (see what Beebe said above) to know how a landing board assists or ******* things like robber bees and wasps.

 

[Swarm]

Robbers and Wasps are not laden and tend to focus on the entrance and it's the entrance they need to breach. The entrance type and guards/colony strength are more important factors and landing boards, if used by the enemy, put them in a precarious position.

 

[Boston Bees]

Robbers and Wasps are not laden and tend to focus on the entrance and it's the entrance they need to breach. The entrance type and guards/colony strength are more important factors and landing boards, if used by the enemy, put them in a precarious position.

Personally, I think, if anything, landing boards might help defend a hive. Good luck robbing this nuc, for example ...



But landing boards probably make little difference to defence really. They are more useful for getting pollen-laden bees home safely.

 

[user 819]

Landing boards are simply for aesthetics, a hive like a tree provides a decent enough of a foothold for bees to land and walk on. Simply look at the hive surface under a scope and one will see the surface will look coarse providing plenty of grip.

 

[Finman]

Landing boards are simply for aesthetics, a hive like a tree

Who has tree hive? No one.

Landing board is very good to bees. Nothing bad in them.

If the board is moldy, I put a new wood instead of old. Two nails.

 

[Erichalfbee]

Who has tree hive? No one.

I have this

 

[drex]

I assume it is Stan who goes up to inspect? Hope he has all the necessary ropes and harness with you belaying him
I too like to do mad experiments with my bees, but I hate heights.

 

[user 819]

We have part hollow trees with bees in the UK not managed but wild also have bees live in chimneys. barns etc,etc, no one puts a landing board in place for them. Even the church in the town has bees in the steeple.

 

[Erichalfbee]

I assume it is Stan who goes up to inspect?

The box is treatment and inspection free

 

[Erichalfbee]

The box is treatment and inspection free

They swarmed this year and we have the prime and a cast in boxes

 

[Finman]

I have this
View attachment 28521

That is not a tree hive.

If you put the box onto ground, is it a "ground hive"

 

[Boston Bees]

We have part hollow trees with bees in the UK not managed but wild also have bees live in chimneys. barns etc,etc, no one puts a landing board in place for them. Even the church in the town has bees in the steeple.

The side of the tree, or the side of the wall/steeple, forms the landing board, and it helpfully goes all the way to the floor! So no danger of undershooting and falling into the grass.