# darkness best for my soon-to-be split?



## mlanden (Jun 19, 2016)

I'll do my 1st split next week. I've heard folks say hives seemed to thrive best when the bottom board was solid. Since I don't have a solid one at present (or a slat/stickyboard-adaptive bottomboard), could I just jury-rig the new split -- to give the girls extra darkness -- by placing the hive/BB atop a wooden board? Would there be an issue with varroa? I've heard about literature stating there's no real value of ScBB versus SBB regarding varroa control.

I had my original brood box situated on a board when my new mentor came over to help me with package installation, and she really, *really* wanted me to remove the board ..... so I did (although I didn't feel good about that).

Would it help at all? A beek 45 miles away told me he made sure his hives were kept in near-total darkness, and they seemed to draw, cap, etc really fast as compared with hives with a screened BB.

Any ideas/thoughts/experience with this? .....


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## gtwarren1966 (Jul 7, 2015)

Exactly what kind of bottom board do you have? If screened most of them have a slot where you can stick the plastic insert in that would help. How far are you from a bee supply store where you could just go get a solid bottom board? Not sure how far away you are from Baileys Bee Supply in Raleigh.


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## Ravenseye (Apr 2, 2006)

It's OK to put a board under the split. It won't be the end of the world if you split over a screened bottom either. I've used both and while I'm now leaning towards a solid bottom board it's not the end of the world if you have a screened one. I will say that I typically split into home made nucs which are all solid so maybe in my case, there's the difference. If you are worried about screens just slide a thin board in place do something as you suggest. In any event, don't overthink it too much. Do your split, watch to make sure the bees build up and respond accordingly.


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## enjambres (Jun 30, 2013)

Set it on a board, that will be fine. Tape shut any opening (for instance at the back) that you don't want the bees to have access to. I have little pieces of wood that fill those spaces, and I thumb-tack metal window screening over them to keep SHB out. SHB are small enough that they can get into hives through screened floors.

Although I use screened bottom boards (over solid boards) on all my hives, if you aren't doing sticky boards then I don't see any advantage to a screened floor. I have sticky boards under my colonies all the time and the cumulative mite drop isn't enough to put a dent in the mite population.

Enj.


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## mlanden (Jun 19, 2016)

gtwarren1966 said:


> Exactly what kind of bottom board do you have? If screened most of them have a slot where you can stick the plastic insert in that would help. How far are you from a bee supply store where you could just go get a solid bottom board? Not sure how far away you are from Baileys Bee Supply in Raleigh.


Hi, GT -- the set-up I considered using came from Mann Lake. Seems kinda odd to me -- I've tried to find a slot in which I'd put a stickyboard. Don't see one! There's also a peculiar slit a little above the entrance (paralleling it) which I've closed with mesh. Too much space for SHBs to use. I think I might use an old ScBB from Brushy Mt.

I'm in Greenville; I went to the Bailey's in Hillsborough a few months back. They closed their site in Raleigh, I was told. Re: SBB's .... I may check if Atlantic Garden in Raleigh has those. Thx ....


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