'solid floors' with monitoring boards

[BeeKeyPlayer]

I saw a picture of Pete Little's open mesh floors with tight fitting sliding boards yesterday. You put a correx sheet on top of the plywood if you want to check what's coming down through the mesh - cappings as well as mites. I recently heard someone talk of their 'solid floors' which - if I understood correctly - are similar (mesh floors with a draughtproof plywood sliding board underneath).

If you want monitoring and solid floors, is this how it's done?

 

[Erichalfbee]

If you want monitoring and solid floors, is this how it's done?

No. If you want to monitor infestation with a solid floor you have to do a sugar roll or alcohol wash.
My mesh floors are like that but with less mesh. The inspection trays are correx with no batten and a bit further below the mesh.

You could argue that using a tight fitting inspection tray makes it a solid floor I suppose.

 

[Swarm]

I saw a picture of Pete Little's open mesh floors with tight fitting sliding boards yesterday. You put a correx sheet on top of the plywood if you want to check what's coming down through the mesh - cappings as well as mites. I recently heard someone talk of their 'solid floors' which - if I understood correctly - are similar (mesh floors with a draughtproof plywood sliding board underneath).

If you want monitoring and solid floors, is this how it's done?

With solid floors you can lift one end of the brood box and slide in a sheet to monitor mite drop.

 

[Wilco]

Possibly me. I make a slot in the back of some of my UFEs so I have the flexibility of solid or open floors. You can get a lot of cappings build up though which the moths like so currently considering an insert for above the mesh. Photos of one from the cleaning pile.

 

[Erichalfbee]

With solid floors you can lift one end of the brood box and slide in a sheet to monitor mite drop.

Great idea after an oav for accelerated drop

 

[Swarm]

Have a look at the 'sticky sheets' Ian Steppler is using, admitted for Langs. They are conducting a series of OAV after finding some inconsistent readings with follow up washes to determine efficacy of the Apivar strips. That's a heck of a lot of money to spend on treatment if it's not going to be effective.

Wilco, mine are a similar design but my boards would be a bit lower under the mesh.

 

[Erichalfbee]

considering an insert for above the mesh.

That would be a good solution if you could add a shorter slide in to block the back off when the slide was in.
I have TBS but deep floors so that wouldn’t be a problem.

 

[Antipodes]

I saw a picture of Pete Little's open mesh floors with tight fitting sliding boards yesterday. You put a correx sheet on top of the plywood if you want to check what's coming down through the mesh - cappings as well as mites. I recently heard someone talk of their 'solid floors' which - if I understood correctly - are similar (mesh floors with a draughtproof plywood sliding board underneath).

If you want monitoring and solid floors, is this how it's done?

You can put acaricide strips and sticky mats into hives on solid floors and check them regularly, but almost all our hives are langstroth hives. The process is described a little here.

https://www.planthealthaustralia.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/NBPSP-Operations-Manual.pdf

Almost all floors here are solid, not screened.

Sticky Board/Mat - Varroa Surveillance

A sticky board is a vital part of varroa surveillance. When used correctly it is one of the most sensitive testing methods available. Sticky boards work by catching varroa mites as they drop. You then go back periodically and inspect the sticky board for varroa mites.Please refer to the...

www.ecrotek.com.au

 

[BeeKeyPlayer]

Possibly me. I make a slot in the back of some of my UFEs so I have the flexibility of solid or open floors. You can get a lot of cappings build up though which the moths like so currently considering an insert for above the mesh. Photos of one from the cleaning pile.

Yes, indeed you!

Thanks for the photos. I can easily modify my boards under my UFE floors so that they feel like solid floors. As you say, they won't be like real solid floors in that the bees won't be able to keep them clean, but reading the debris is possible.

Looking back in other threads, some say that draught prevention is the main benefit of solid floors, and if you have an OMF, you should keep the board in if the hives are in exposed conditions. Others say that the clustered bees are high up between the frames and not exposed to draughts anyway. (I have ekes with slatted racks so that's even more the case.)

I think a tight-fitting board under the mesh has some of the benefits of both and has a connection with both a natural cavity and pre-varroa beekeeping.

 

[BeeKeyPlayer]

The process is described a little here.

https://www.planthealthaustralia.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/NBPSP-Operations-Manual.pdf

That's a very comprehensive and useful manual! Thank you for sending the link. The writers were obviously pleased too. It's still version 1.00 after 9 years.