# Is a SBB needed?



## aristaeus (Jun 7, 2018)

We have three hives, each currently 2 mediums and growing from 1-month old nucs.

We are using solid baseboard as that is what was supplied with the hive kits but I am seeing a lot of references to screened boards. What is it that determines whether a SBB is needed? I am assuming it relates to hear and/or humidity? We have seen days in the low 90s and may see mid 90s. Humidity though, we have a lot of very humid days, in the 90% range.

Is there some black and white rule about the use of SBBs? Trying to understand whether I need to get them.

Thanks,


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## Rader Sidetrack (Nov 30, 2011)

No, you don't need a screened bottom board.

And, if you do add a screened bottom board, choose a model that allows the screen to be closed off easily. Then leave the closure board in place.

"Open" screens interfere with the bees' desire and ability to manage the temperature and humidity of the brood nest, and allow unwanted light into the hive.

Keep in mind that no matter how much air one gets to flow through the screen, that air will NEVER be cooler than the outside air temperature. So, on a hot day, a high volume of 100 degree air coming through the screen means that the brood area will be 100 degrees (or more), rather than the 94 degrees that the bees want. Let the bees manage their own airflow so that their evaporative cooling system can work efficiently.


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## aristaeus (Jun 7, 2018)

Rader Sidetrack said:


> No, you don't need a screened bottom board.
> 
> And, if you do add a screened bottom board, choose a model that allows the screen to be closed off easily. Then leave the closure board in place.


Many thanks, I will leave the solid board in place then.


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## My-smokepole (Apr 14, 2008)

SBB are part of a mite control that some people decide to use. Had them when I started. And moved to solid bottoms. But I follow a lot of the commercial ideas.


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## TWall (May 19, 2010)

Put me down as another one moving away from screened bottom boards.

Tom


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## hypsin (Feb 13, 2014)

My-smokepole said:


> But I follow a lot of the commercial ideas.


Those seem to be the most efficient, cheapest and simplest ideas heh.

I have moved to all solid boards, migratory covers and top entrances on supers. Makes no difference to bees in 100F+ Texas summers. Cheap, fast to assemble and easy to paint, compared to SBB.

To some extent, SBB may slow down mite infestation but it is not going to prevent a die-out without additional treatment/intervention. So benefits are marginal, at least in my opinion.


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## enjambres (Jun 30, 2013)

SBB don't do much, if anything, to control mites. That's just wishful thinking, IMO. (And I have run sticky boards on some hives for a year, counting all the mites that dropped out of the hive every single day. And believe me, it's a drop in the bucket, even in hives that excellent mite management.)

And as Rader Sidetrack, correctly, and frequently, points out the idea that they are effective temperature control mechanisms also misses the mark. 

But they can be useful as a part of year-round mite monitoring method. (Nothing else is available in the winter in northern climates, for instance.) If used correctly, they give acceptable information about when the mites are building up enough to need suppression. In tandem with monthly sugar rolls, weekly sticky board counts offer a rich and reliable way to understand and manage the mites bedeviling your bees. And because new beekeepers often don't have the skills or moxie to do sugar rolls right off, they are an introduction to mite monitoring that's easy to put in place and get started on this essential task. You do';t even have to open the hive to check the mite levels when using sticky boards.

However, I think they also offer a unique, and sometimes startling window on what's happening upstairs in a hive. Because they function as the bee's dumpster, all kinds of info can be learned from studying the trash on the board. At the moment I think they are an underused resource.

Of course no commercial beekeeper, with dozens or hundreds of hives to care will not take the time to study individual boards. But that does not mean a smaller-scale beekeeper might not benefit from doing so. My understanding of the bees' natural history has been deepened and challenged by what I see on my boards. And I feel I am barely scratching the surface of what I see written on them. Mites are just tiny part of that, useful in many circumstances, but nowhere near all the information to be gleaned.

An example I often use is this: I live in northern NY where hive work is not possible for four to five months in the winter because of the extreme cold. Yet I often have confirmation before Valentine's Day that not only do I have live bees (I can see them going out to poop on warmish days), but I also have a live and laying queen. Because I catch the unmistakable glint of a new wax flake that slipped off the supply chain and fell down on to the board. They certainly aren't capping honey at that time of year - so the start of fresh wax flake production means I have new brood needing to be capped, ergo, I have a live queen happily on the job. I know I will have to patient for perhaps another two months before I can see the new brood; but I know for certain it's there, even when I have to go out to my bee yard on snowshoes to read the boards

There are lots of other things that I see and I am trying to sort out the meaning of. It's a work in progress, but I think it's well-worth the minimal effort to look at the sticky board under my SBB every week of the year.

BTW, I also keep a solid board in place under the SBB on each colony, just to capture the best attributes of both kinds of board. That works really well.

Nancy


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## little_john (Aug 4, 2014)

I'll give you another opinion ...

All of my hives have bottom entrances and sealed, insulated tops, and all except one have Open Mesh Floors - which are fully open all year round. (My winter losses for several years now have been zero, BTW.) In the UK we're currently experiencing a heatwave, and the one hive that doesn't have an OMF (SBB) was bearding badly the day before yesterday and the bees had become very cranky and bad-tempered. So - I made up a 'QD' Slatted Rack from scrap to supply them with much needed bottom ventilation - just half-an-hour's work, at zero cost:



Immediately, things were back to normal. Very obviously the bees were NOT able to manage their own ventilation adequately. Honey-bees are cavity-dwelling insects, and if they're not inside their cavity working away, then there's clearly something wrong with it. Also - when bees are compelled to move outside of their hive for extended periods, then they're not inside doing what bees do best - and so it's not a very efficient state to be in either.

Do you *need* an OMF (SBB) ? I'd say don't take the advice of anyone on this question (including me) - but try fitting one and see if it works or not for you, as opinions are divided on this - as with many issues in beekeeping.
LJ


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## psm1212 (Feb 9, 2016)

This is a picture I took Tuesday. The actual temp was 100 degrees and the heat index was around 108. The hive on the right is on a solid bottom board. The hive on the left is on a SBB. I have a mixture of solid and SBBs all through my apiary of about 25 hives. I have been playing with the setups for 4 years now. Some have solid BBs with lids down. Some have SBBs with lids set up to (at least theoretically) create a "cross breeze." 

My only observation is that bearding is more pronounced on solid BBs. But that does not answer your question. 

Your question is do you need an SBB? The answer is absolutely not. I run about 10 colonies with solid BBs in the middle of Hell and I have never noted a difference in survival or production from the ones that I run with SBBs. I am not convinced that bearding is a bad thing.


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## Rader Sidetrack (Nov 30, 2011)

One way to look at bearding outside the hive is that the bees are _satisfied_ with the conditions inside the hive.  They are not inside trying to block off the effects of the open bottom, and they are not needed to ferry water to cool the hive.

As for cranky bees, bees that don't have any nectar to forage may be cranky due to forage conditions.


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## Roland (Dec 14, 2008)

If the bees needed a SBB, why would they propolize the screen shut? I try to listen to the bees.

Crazy Roland


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## Mike Gillmore (Feb 25, 2006)

Screened bottom boards are not needed or necessary, but for some they provide a useful service. I use SBB's on all of my colonies for two main reasons, and neither is ventilation. I find it best if the trays are left in year round and the openings for the most part remain sealed off.

I build my own boards with the tray opening at the back, tall enough so a vaporizer can be inserted under the screen for OAV treatments. My hives do not have lower entrances so the vaporizer remains away from the bees during treatment. When treating I'm able to work down the row from behind the hives and stay out of the bees flight path. This is the main reason I choose to keep the screened bottom boards as a standard piece of equipment. It's not a benefit so much for the bees, but for the beekeeper. The set up allows me to have the ability to treat with OAV any time with very little disruption. 

The second benefit, which has already been described above in detail, is what can be learned by "reading" the debris on the trays throughout the season. There is a lot to be learned by simply studying what is on the trays.


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## little_john (Aug 4, 2014)

Roland said:


> If the bees needed a SBB, why would they propolize the screen shut? I try to listen to the bees.
> 
> Crazy Roland


Eh ?

Take a six-sided box (a cube) and make an entrance on one side, and fit areas of mesh (say a few square inches) to the other sides, top and bottom. And then watch.
The bees will propolise the mesh at the top of the box as a matter of urgency. Then, over time they will probably propolise the mesh at the sides. My experience has been that they will NEVER propolise mesh at the bottom of the box. Doesn't that tell you something ? If open mesh at the bottom offended the bees, then they would certainly propolise it ... but they don't. They don't even try. 

And yet people will continue to use upper entrances, and even insert spacers under inner covers. In very hot areas no doubt that's good practice - but elsewhere - why do this ? Be guided by what the bees would do, given the opportunity.

Here's a box I was setting-up earlier today:



Propolis on the frame rests (most of it already cleaned-off), and plenty on the divided crown board underside - but not a single square millimetre of propolis on any of those bottom meshes - they're as clean as the day they were fitted.

But - cover one of the feed holes in the crown board (inner cover) with similar mesh, and it would be completely propolised shut within a week.
LJ


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## AR Beekeeper (Sep 25, 2008)

The only time I have had a colony close the screened bottom with propolis is when I failed to prepare the ground under the hive, and grass was growing up through the screen into the colony.


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## little_john (Aug 4, 2014)

Just in case you guys think I'm nuts for having partial to full open-bottomed hives all year round - here's a similar attitude from 'A Manual of Beekeeping', Wedmore, 1932 :



> 837. The functions of the floor board are to hinder the bees from extending the combs below the frames in an irregular manner, to keep out the wind and other enemies, and to give the bees ready access from the entrance to all parts. *Bees live comfortably in all weathers in a hive with no bottom *provided the walls extend well below the cluster, but they will then build irregularly. The lower parts of the combs are normally used for breeding, and it is safe and advantageous to leave from 3/4 to 1 & 1/2 inches below the frames. Skill in management is required, in fact, to get combs built out to the bottom bar throughout (278). It is a good plan to insert an empty body between the floor board and brood chamber while the hive is wintered out of doors, thus improving ventilation and reducing drafts.
> 
> 897. *Bees will winter successfully in a hive with no bottom at all* if protected from draughts, i.e. if the hive walls extend a long distance below the cluster.


I agree totally with Wedmore about the need to avoid draughts, and most of mine have a 3-sided eke (with a 4th side used as a closure during gales) between the Open Mesh Floor and the solid floor below it. These need cleaning-out regularly though, else they harbour wax-moths. I currently have just the one hive trialling a deep (12") open-bottomed skirt below the mesh floor which allows debris to fall freely to the ground, and which currently looks to be the best solution so far.
LJ


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## Robbin (May 26, 2013)

I think there is an advantage to SBB for mites. Put a sticky board on top of one and see how many mites would have fallen thru a SBB. I use oil trays, and you wouldn't believe the number of mites you see in clean oil. I put them on to kill SHB and it's the most effect weapon I've got against them. I keep them on year round now and on every hive. Now in my case, mites that hit the tray are toast. But I think mites that hit the ground aren't likely to make it back into the hive. 

I've seen no difference on how the hives react to SBB, Solid, or Trays. When it's hot, they beard, when it's not they don't. My survive 15 degree weather on rare occasion and 100 degree weather every summer. But the difference in their survive ability against SHB is hands down better with the trays. So much so that I don't even make a nuc without the trays.
It's an expensive options, but the best thing I ever did for the bees or for my bee keeping.


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## GregB (Dec 26, 2017)

US commercial equipment (what most people use here) - has no air buffer under the frames.
There is nothing to speak off.
SBB is just another gimmick to mitigate this obvious design flaw (well - *this is a feature, not a flaw*, IF you are migratory commercial keeper and have a volume to manage using pallets and trucks).

So if you are not a commercial keeper, need to drop those commercial "features". 
They are no good unless you are running your bees on pallets and move them around by forklifts.

Given enough under-frame air buffer, none of this gimmickry is needed (slatted racks do just that, as one example).
I simply have 2 inch buffer under my already tall frames over the solid bottoms.
I don't know what is "bearding".
But the keepers around here been complaining already as they do every summer.
The per-annual talk of summer ventilation has already started. 
Well, just don't to what the commercial keepers do. That simple.


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## baybee (Jan 10, 2016)

SBB is a useful contraption for non-invasive monitoring of mite levels: after a few days of natural mite drop or after one OAV one gets the idea of the mite load. In not SBB, invasive techniques is the only option.

SBBs aren't absolutely necessary for mite-free hives.


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## little_john (Aug 4, 2014)

I'm not entirely sure why there is an automatic assumption that Open Mesh Floors are exclusively related to Varroa level monitoring. Mesh Floors (SBBs) were first used in the 19th Century(*) - well before Varroa became a widespread nuisance - and have been used on and off ever since. Mesh Floors were simply seen as one obvious method of tackling the mite problem once it had arrived. 

In 1932 (again, well before the advent of Varroa), Wedmore writes:


> 260. Alternatively, and with greater certainty, the hives containing the queens and the selected drones may be closed before 10 a.m. and put in a cool place, *free ventilation being provided through floor ventilators or the like.*


And yet I've often heard people claim that the 'proper' use of mesh floors is for monitoring Varroa and NOT for providing ventilation.
LJ

(*) http://www.dave-cushman.net/bee/open_mesh_floors.html
http://www.dave-cushman.net/bee/kenhomf.html


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