Slatted bottom board, worthwhile or not?

[tillie]

I like the slats to go the same direction as the frames because the screened bottom board makes more sense with no barriers to stop the fall of the varroa mite and other things groomed off of the bees.  A right angled to the frames slatted rack provides a barrier to stop the fall to the screen.

Brushy Mountain now makes slats following the frames.  Used to be I would have to buy the slatted racks from Betterbee because they were the only company that made 8 frame slatted racks paralleling the frames, but now Brushy Mountain does as well and I imagine other companies also.

Linda T in Atlanta

[Larryb]

Linda,  Thank you for your response.  Do you slide the screen in under the slatted bottom.  I'm trying to visualize how they work together.

[tillie]

The slatted rack goes above the screened bottom board under the first hive box.

See this:  http://beekeeperlinda.blogspot.com/2011/05/what-difference-slatted-rack-makes.html

or this:

http://beekeeperlinda.blogspot.com/2006/06/beard-and-slatted-rack.html

Linda T in Atlanta

[Larryb]

Judging by your pictures,  it looks like you don't use the solid bottom board but replace it with a screened bottom board then put the slatted rack on top of that.  Am I correct?  As we have a fairly cold winter here in Utah with a low sometimes a bit below 0, would you replace the screened bottom board with a solid bottom board in late fall?  Thank you for the information. I am new to beekeeping and am eager to learn the best practices.

[tillie]

My hive is from the bottom up:  screened bottom board, slatted rack, medium box, medium box, medium box, etc.

I'm in Atlanta and keep my screened bottom board open all winter long.  I don't know about other parts of the country, but have read about a lot of beekeepers who do not close up the SBB in winter.  The bees keep the cluster warm, not the hive.  I imagine if you are somewhere where you need to wrap hives in the winter, you wouldn't use a SBB all year round.

Linda T in Atlanta

[Larryb]

Linda, Thanks.  I have read about the screened boards that have drawer that you slide a board into to count mites .  Perhaps that could be left in during the coldest months.  I think I need to talk to beekeepers here to see what they do during winter.  I just spent some time on your Blog page.  Very helpful information.

Larry

[David McLeod]

I've never run racks, though the idea has always made some degree of sense to me. Then I discovered Walt Wright's pollen box concept.
Now all of mine are stacked with a shallow on the bottom and I find that all the claims, save comb chewing, made for slatted racks to be true.