Why Use a Screened Bottom Board in the Hive?

Author: Meera, December 21, 2015

When beekeepers see signs that the population of Varroa destructor mites are increasing in the hive, they will take action to reduce the mite population. One way they can track mite levels is by using a screened bottom board.

 

 

A close monitoring of a screened bottom board can give a beekeeper a good idea of whether or not the mite population is increasing or decreasing in the hive.

 

 

Queen cell that houses the queen who is feed royal jelly until she emerges

The queen bee in a hiveĀ  gets a special house that looks like a thimble on its side

 

 

Mites fall through the screen to the ground. A screened bottom board stretches across a platform that the hive box sits on.

 

 

When the mites in a hive fall on solid bottoms in a hive box, they can ride back up into the interior of the hive on other bees. A great article for building your own screened bottom board can be found at http://www.michiganbees.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/Screened-Bottom-Board_20110324.pdf

 

 

The use of a screened bottom board prevents bees returning upwards in the hive. One sign of mites at work in a hive are wings missing from newly emerged baby bees. There are other signs as well.

 

For lots of interesting bee “stuff” as well as farming tips and delicious recipes, check out my newest novel, A BEELINE TO MURDER.

 

Now available online and from brick-and-mortar bookstores everywhere. See, http://tinyurl.com/p8d6owd

 

 

 

The book cover for my debut novel, the first in the Henny Penny Farmette mystery series

 

 

 

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