Recommended Varroa Floor

[MuswellMetro]

Maybe its an adaptation of a Smith or Langstroth floor to National size ?

I am thinking TBS versus BBS..

Admin, that's what i suspect as i have never seen a 6mm riser floor before (4mm on mine l've, just measure it as i have rushed up to my hives with asuper)

sorry if ihave posted too long and perhaps personal views, but, i did work on the 1970 revision of the BS national...if only as a typist, ..i am that old, perhaps you should have a grumpy old beekeeper section##


i think it was 9d for the leaflet, and as expensiveas half a pint of Beer...1/9 for a pint of Flower's KEG

 

[oliver90owner]

Welcome to the forum Bioman.

Obviously not a beekeeper (for long?), or you would know that the under-frame space at the floor does not present any problem with wild comb and has nothing to do with 'drone management'. Drones are a necessary part of the bee colony.

As much as your floors may look good and be spindle moulded or routed (rebates and grooves) for production, the KISS principle operates around my apiary and about 6 quid, or often much less, for materials does me fine. Kept simple, but work perfectly well.

Battens, I find, are a better (and simpler for many) option than a groove, if any slight distortion occurs with the insert. I don't need to get the router out for mine, saw cuts are actually close enough although the timber normally goes through the thicknesser for uniformity.

Regards, RAB

 

[GingerNut]

Well I hope you are all pleased with yourselves................

Well I hope you are all pleased with yourselves................

As well as recommending the floor I also invited 'bioman' here to join as member of this very friendly forum.

After the tirade that some of you have given him (I'm not talking about the content, but about the way it was put across) 'bioman' will never visit the forum again.

He prefers the BBKA forum to this one.............................that says a lot about your attitude, doesn't it??????????

We have lost a member who has obviously great woodworking skills and who is also a beekeeper, and why?????????????..................... because of the attitude of some of the more experienced members of our forum.....................who should know better, and should be setting a better example to our newer members.

I am seriously pissed off about this, and your attitude!!!!!

Please make this a place again that people want to come to, and not abuse people again??????????????

Yours Roy

 

[susbees]

You are over-reacting. If a well-made product (as it indeed appears to be) requires a greater understanding of beekeeping than the manufacturer has (which seems to be the case but does not matter if he seeks comment to improve the product) then coming to the forums for an open brain-storming is an excellent way to make a solid and popular product.

I look forward to seeing your friend start such a discussion on the BBKA forum so that his products are fit for purpose.

 

[GingerNut]

You are over-reacting. If a well-made product (as it indeed appears to be) requires a greater understanding of beekeeping than the manufacturer has (which seems to be the case but does not matter if he seeks comment to improve the product) then coming to the forums for an open brain-storming is an excellent way to make a solid and popular product.

I look forward to seeing your friend start such a discussion on the BBKA forum so that his products are fit for purpose.

Please read my post carefully, I'll quote again for you..............

"After the tirade that some of you have given him (I'm not talking about the content, but about the way it was put across) 'bioman' will never visit the forum again."

Yours Roy

 

[BKF Admin]

Welcome to the forum Bioman.

Obviously not a beekeeper (for long?), or you would know that the under-frame space at the floor does not present any problem with wild comb and has nothing to do with 'drone management'. Drones are a necessary part of the bee colony.

As much as your floors may look good and be spindle moulded or routed (rebates and grooves) for production, the KISS principle operates around my apiary and about 6 quid, or often much less, for materials does me fine. Kept simple, but work perfectly well.

Battens, I find, are a better (and simpler for many) option than a groove, if any slight distortion occurs with the insert. I don't need to get the router out for mine, saw cuts are actually close enough although the timber normally goes through the thicknesser for uniformity.

Regards, RAB

Thats just how I do mine Rab,rather than have the router chattering away doing a groove(I only have a quarter inch router) I put battens through the thicknesser,then just use a staple gun to fix the mesh once I have nailed the battens on.

 

[oliver90owner]

Admin,

Nearly the same, but not quite, I think.

I cut my mesh at 460 x 460 or a tad less (no sharp edges sticking out). The bottom part, of 4 pieces (2 @ 460mm and 2 @ 420mm), is butt jointed with screws as a square. Fabbed on a flat surface with top side down. The mesh then helps makes the whole thing more rigid as it is clamped between the three top pieces and that bottom part, by the several screws, the top pieces overlapping at the butt joints, thus increasing the strength on the corners. Tidy up with another couple of screws at the corners (so effectively screwed both ways). The battens are simply for the varroa check-tray to sit on.

Timber is often recycled or offcuts (not usually pallet wood as that is often not very durable), mesh can be purchased as a large sheet cut by the steel stock-holders (my next lot will be sourced thus, if/when I need more), although some of mine are old fireguards and/or reclaimed mesh.

Going down to the basement. My single hive stands are such that the weight of the hive is transferred to the stand legs through the top runners which sit on the rebated legs, so there is no stress on any screws used in the construction. The next lot will likely be slightly more robust than my first batch - they will probably have 60mm square section legs, which will leave 40mm to screw through to; leaving a full hive-width footprint. Next lot, I shall cut and machine for ten, even if they are not constructed until needed. So much easier.

Regards, RAB

 

[BKF Admin]

Next lot, I shall cut and machine for ten, even if they are not constructed until needed. So much easier.

Regards, RAB

I agree,so much time gets waisted setting up every so often to do about 3 at a time.

I know have 200 cedar sidebars in box's for as and when I need to cut brood/super box's.

 

[whiteoakjill]

i think the basis of this design floor is on the bbka website, will check now to be sure

 

[whiteoakjill]

http://************************/files/diy_open_mesh_floor-graham-white.pdf click then google search it and it will appear!

http://s64.photobucket.com/albums/h187/adamsm/Mesh Floor/?action=view&current=MeshFloor1.jpg

maybe these are where the issues lay.

i made two myself but being new hadnt thought about the issues, probably going to modify now and change slightly for the future as i like the general idea, no mouse problems especially.

 

[MuswellMetro]

http://************************/files/diy_open_mesh_floor-graham-white.pdf click then google search it and it will appear!

http://s64.photobucket.com/albums/h187/adamsm/Mesh Floor/?action=view&current=MeshFloor1.jpg

maybe these are where the issues lay.

i made two myself but being new hadnt thought about the issues, probably going to modify now and change slightly for the future as i like the general idea, no mouse problems especially.

well that says it all...BBKA sponsered, no wonder it does not take into account the British standard dimension

and whiteoak ,thanks for the info

 

[BERNIE]

sorry to hear he won't be coming back to the forum,as I had a question to ask about the species of timber shown in the photo.looks like american white oak to me,maybe some sharpe eyed person could tell me.

 

[m100]

i made two myself but being new hadnt thought about the issues, probably going to modify now and change slightly for the future as i like the general idea, no mouse problems especially.

It's not just the bee space, the slot entrances can get blocked over winter with dead bees and if there are not enough bees chucking out corpses then whole colony gets trapped. Visit your hives on a cold day in early spring and see no activity and you might think all was well particularly if they are all on this type of floor, come spring and the first inspection then all you see is the whole colony. Dead.

After a few successful years using these type of floors a local beek lost at least one and possibly more colonies over this last winter with the slot getting blocked

(they are also called Yorkshire floors by the way)

 

[oliver90owner]

That is one reason why it is good on the Dartingtons - it is well away from the brood nest while over-wintering and one can check it out without disturbing the bees.

Regards, RAB

 

[MuswellMetro]

It's not just the bee space, the slot entrances can get blocked over winter with dead bees and if there are not enough bees chucking out corpses then whole colony gets trapped. Visit your hives on a cold day in early spring and see no activity and you might think all was well particularly if they are all on this type of floor, come spring and the first inspection then all you see is the whole colony. Dead.

After a few successful years using these type of floors a local beek lost at least one and possibly more colonies over this last winter with the slot getting blocked

interesting, i might need to modify it further, might drill a few 8mm holes in my 21mm eke as a "fire escape route"

 

[BERNIE]

i wonder why that in one photo, on admins post, floor looks to be made of Meranti and in the other photo american white oak,is this someone just using all there off cuts up and knocking them out for £30 a pop?

 

[oliver90owner]

It certainly looks well made, but forty quid for a beehive floor is totally out of the question for more than those people with very few colonies and no practical woodworking skills. Either of those two woods are quite OTT for a beehive as they are not as 'green' as some timbers (which would do the job quite adequately).

Regards, RAB

 

[MuswellMetro]

just found his ebay reply, when i queried the height