Mesh Floor Nuc ?

[Steve_gts]

Hi all,

I'm going to have a go at making some nuc boxes this winter, I've looked at several plans, but all have solid floors, is there a reason for this? It seems, that there would be very little price difference in replacing it with mesh and surely would be better for the bees, re Varroa.

Thanks

 

[Tom Bick]

You can have a mesh floor on a nuc hive but if you make one try and incorporate a reasonably snug inspection tray so when inserted it will act as a sort of solid floor.

This will help any small colony with heat retention and perhaps one of the more important factors with small colonys.

 

[beeboybee]

i went for a half way situation with two round 50mm holes in the floor with mesh rather than a full mesh floor, i taped correx under neath to stop the wind and then as the Nuc expanded i took off the correx. seemed to work for my bee's, i do like the ida of a slide out floor though might give that some thoughts

 

[alanf]

I've looked at several plans, but all have solid floors, is there a reason for this?

A mesh floor nuc box could be stood on solid correx, ply or some other solid material of around the right size. Making a specific slider for each nuc is one way of doing it but it's much easier to lift a nuc box than a full size hive.

 

[Steve_gts]

Thanks all, yes that's what I wasn't thinking about, the heat loss aspect, Ill have a go at a sliding floor, but if it's beyond my skills (which is slightly more than a vague possibility!), then I'll just stand them on boards as alanf said.

 

[oliver90owner]

The problem with leaving in a board just below the mesh is that the collected morass will fester with all sorts of parasite, pest and disease spores, etc, with the bees unable to do anything about it.

Of little importance, maybe, when tightly clustered but they do often get the opportunity to do some house-cleaning if the weather warms up - and of course a time when all these festering pests and pathogens, etc become more active.

Far better to have a 'Harding' style under-floor, I suspect.

RAB

 

[Headnavigator]

FYI the P*ynes poly-nucs have a mesh floor.

 

[alanf]

The problem with leaving in a board just below the mesh is that the collected morass will fester with all sorts of parasite, pest and disease spores, etc, with the bees unable to do anything about it.

Good point. As hedgerow pete of this parish points out in his video, the lowest part of a box is always going to be in contact with a support. That's likely to be where moisture collects and it rots.

What I was intending to try next season is a box with a mesh floor but that mesh is clamped in position with 'rails' made of hardwood. The screw from the bottom goes through the rail, then the mesh and then into the box side, no glue. It leaves a gap under the mesh if stood on something solid. The rail should be more resistant to rot than the box sides which have some limited ventilation because of the mesh. The mesh is also better drained so cheaper galvanised will last longer without needing to go for stainless.

The 'rail' is a strip reclaimed from slats in a garden bench. If you used something softer it's easily replaced. It can also be removed or steamed to clean before the box is re-used which would help with parasites and other muck. Being a plain strip, it's much easier to make than any arrangement with slots or fittings for a slide in panel. Not as elegant as some would make but does the job.

 

[Arfermo]

I've given up on 5 frame nucs as one can only feed with contact feeders and they leak in hot weather as I found to my cost. 6 frame minimum in future - or save myself the bother altogether and use a normal B/B with 5 or 6 frames in, dummy boards either side (home made to fit right down to the floor), pack the void out as necessary with eg Celotex/Kingspan taped on the edges to stop bees chewing it. This is a substitute nuc with the advantage that it allows for the expansion as the colony grows. Using an OMF also allows for testing varroa drop which is often not the case with standard nucs. Nucs for disposal anybody lol !!!!

 

[Springer]

I made up a simple seed box type tray which the nuc can be stood on. Never thought of it but the tray upside down would solve the heat loss problem
S