OMF: Stainless Steel or Galvanized

[Curley]

Hi and a Happy New Year to you all.

I'm planning to make some OMF floors this winter. They will have an under floor entrance (a la JBM and others) and I am bearing in mind a probable future switch to vaporizing oxalic acid. (Currently I'm a trickler ).
With an underfloor entrance I gather from other posts it will be easiest to vape from under the mesh.
So the question is: can I use galvanized mesh or do I need to stump up for stainless steel?
I know a solution of oxalic acid will be corrosive but how corrosive is vaporized oxalic acid? Presumably desublimation of oxalic acid on any condensation on the hive walls would lead to a solution of oxalic acid forming which would be highly corrosive if it trickled down but I don't know if this is likely to happen. Has anyone noticed corrosion of galvanized mesh?

 

[Plenty of honey]

Well I've just changed to Stainless floor mesh, as i use vaped oxalic acid.
Have to admit all my old floors are ok, but rusty. Stainless is a third more expensive for me, but all my new nucs will have stainless from now on, as vaping is what i will probably be still doing in 10 years time, lol, planing ahead and all that!!
Think you will regret sticking to galvanised in the long term.

 

[For want of a better word]

Make up a vaporiser boad if administering from below using a Varrox type device... slides into the inspection cover grooves.

We have plastic mesh floors and have not melted one yet!

This is because the electric field generated by anything metal in the hive upsets the bees to the extent that the honey yields and fecundity of the colony is diminished.

I have even heard of respected beekeepers using the old fashioned metal queen excluders earthing them to prevent this problem.

Plastic presents no such problem.... metal must also conduct heat away from the hive?

Mytten da

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

Make up a vaporiser boad if administering from below using a Varrox type device... slides into the inspection cover grooves.

We have plastic mesh floors and have not melted one yet!

This is because the electric field generated by anything metal in the hive upsets the bees to the extent that the honey yields and fecundity of the colony is diminished.

I have even heard of respected beekeepers using the old fashioned metal queen excluders earthing them to prevent this problem.

Plastic presents no such problem.... metal must also conduct heat away from the hive?

Mytten da

Obviously you've got the alignment to the ley lines all wrong

 

[For want of a better word]

Obviously you've got the alignment to the ley lines all wrong

JBM.... now we all know that solid floors are a must if placing the colonies on Ley Lines!... and the entrances must point South by South West!

Yeghes da

 

[Plenty of honey]

We have plastic mesh floors and have not melted one yet!

This is because the electric field generated by anything metal in the hive upsets the bees to the extent that the honey yields and fecundity of the colony is diminished.

I have even heard of respected beekeepers using the old fashioned metal queen excluders earthing them to prevent this problem.

Plastic presents no such problem.... metal must also conduct heat away from the hive?

Mytten da

Really interesting that!! never heard that before and i must admit i have never noticed a difference between the mesh flooring of my 5 and 6 framed Nucs and the plastic bases made by Nicot, that i use on all my production colonies!!
Is their any scientific proof that this an issue, very interested to hear more about this? can start a new thread on this unless Curley dosent mind?

 

[For want of a better word]

Really interesting that!! never heard that before and i must admit i have never noticed a difference between the mesh flooring of my 5 and 6 framed Nucs and the plastic bases made by Nicot, that i use on all my production colonies!!
Is their any scientific proof that this an issue, very interested to hear more about this? can start a new thread on this unless Curley dosent mind?

My comment was mainly that if the Varrox is kept away from the plastic OMF then it is not going to melt!

The electric field generated by a metal plate was an aside... but a point worth noting methinks?

Mytten da

 

[Plenty of honey]

My comment was mainly that if the Varrox is kept away from the plastic OMF then it is not going to melt!

The electric field generated by a metal plate was an aside... but a point worth noting methinks?

Mytten da

Agreed , i slide a slate under my varrox otherwise its good bye plastic base.
Are we talking magic stones and matchsticks re the electric fields from metal mesh floors then?

 

[For want of a better word]

Are we talking magic stones and matchsticks re the electric fields from metal mesh floors then?

Not at all if one stops to think about it... someones PhD possibly???

Yeghes da

 

[Erichalfbee]

We have plastic mesh floors and have not melted one yet!

This is because the electric field generated by anything metal in the hive upsets the bees to the extent that the honey yields and fecundity of the colony is diminished.

I have even heard of respected beekeepers using the old fashioned metal queen excluders earthing them to prevent this problem.

That's interesting.
Does anybody make robust plastic excluders that can be used with top space, I wonder?

 

[Finman]

.
In commercial hives mesh is aluminium.
Electrict galvanized mesh they will be rusty in one year. So you can use directly iron mesh.

 

[REDWOOD]

I used stainless steel years ago but now use epoxy coated mesh, it's cheep as chips and when I refurbish floors after 2 seasons I just rip the old stuff out and replace with new. Never had one melt with oxalic acid or vaporisation

 

[Quis Custodiet]

Make up a vaporiser boad if administering from below using a Varrox type device... slides into the inspection cover grooves.

We have plastic mesh floors and have not melted one yet!

This is because the electric field generated by anything metal in the hive upsets the bees to the extent that the honey yields and fecundity of the colony is diminished.

I have even heard of respected beekeepers using the old fashioned metal queen excluders earthing them to prevent this problem.

Plastic presents no such problem.... metal must also conduct heat away from the hive?

Mytten da

Abundans cautela non nocet.

 

[oliver90owner]

but a point worth noting methinks?

Considering, perhaps, but probably discarding rather than going to the trouble of noting it down or mentally, I would think?

 

[oliver90owner]

I've used galvanised expanded mesh, passivated steel woven mesh and stainless mesh.

They are all still in service, some are a bit rusty, but there are other factors to consider - like how often they need maintenance, per eg. Flaming is a clear issue, apart from oxalic sublimation. Probably a more important one, at that.

 

[Curley]

Thanks for all the helpful replies.

A board to slot in whilst vaping sounds like a good idea and despite generations of Yorkshiremen rotating in their graves, I will probably shell out the extra for stainless steel as I had forgotten the need to flame.

 

[hallshoney]

I still got apoxy coated mesh economy floors that are at least 15 years old . Before I got a sublimox used to vaporise over a mesh screen made also of apoxy coated mesh and that never corroded.