Hi, A newbie here. I have the plastic bottom board in the top slot. And I noticed I have bees in between the screen and the plastic sheet. I’m trying to see why without pulling it apart but can’t quite figure it out. Anyone have any ideas?
Thanks,
O
I noticed the other day that bees readily fit through the SBB with the core flute in the lower. I put the core flute in the upper slot thinking I fixed the problem. After reading your question, I’m not so sure now.
I hope a lot of bees don’t get stuck in it & die, it’ll give the beetle somewhere to lay eggs in.
I’m wondering if your core flute is sagging a bit. You might need something in the lower slot so you can wedge something in to push the core flute closer to the screen.
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Some photos would help if you are able to take them. In particular it would help to see how the lower box sits on the SBB, and what the core flute looks like when it is in that upper slot. Any pics of where you are seeing bees would help too.
I know you don’t want to take the hive apart, but I think you might need to if the photos don’t show an obvious problem. Several others have found that the mesh in the SBB can get deformed, allowing bees through. The squares in that mesh should be around 3mm across, if the wires stretch to 5mm, bees can get definitely get through. In that case, you need to bend the wires back to reduce the holes, or tape some fly screen over the damaged area.
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Thanks for the insight, I just pulled the board out and there were 3 bees in between. I looked under and can’t see anywhere the can get from the brood box to the screen. It’s tight. The core board is tight. That said, I’ll have a look at the screen for any defects.
Thanks again,
O
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I do get bees walking around and under the hive from the entrance, this is a regular activity for some bees and its not uncommon to find them under the hive at night. So they may just be wanderers.
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I also get the occasional bee who is in between the corflute and the mesh when i am inspecting the debris on the corflute (that white plastic sheet). And I worry that the bee will die. But when i come back 5 minutes later the bee has gone elsewhere.
I also have not seen any dead bees on the corflute, so I am not worried.
When i harvest or if its cold, i will put the corflute in the upper slot.
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Now I think this is developing into an important issue. I just got my Flow hive yesterday, and on cursory inspection, everything looked fine. I had a few issues with no pilot holes and curvy rebates/rabbets, but the SBB looked OK to me from a distance. Today, I re-inspected my SBB in full daylight. To my mind, the gaps I see here are NOT bee-proof:
It might be worth a comment in the instructions to check this before installing bees @Cedar @beethinking
I have some jewelers pliers, and I will repair this myself, but you have to know it can be a problem, so that you can deal with it… 
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yes, that one definitely needs to be fixed!
good idea to have an inspection as part of the instructions.
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Thanks, that’s definitely something to inspect.
O
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Could you replace the woven mesh with perforated mesh? I have this on most of mine. Same aperture but no chance of the weft or weave slipping
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If I get grief from this SBB, I will just change to a solid bottom. Lived with those for years. I just like the concept of the screen, even if it causes complications should one ever want to vaporize oxalic acid.
Dawn you could always slide out the solid BB and vape then replace - not pin it down
I am worried that the vapour would pour out through the screen, giving an unreliable dose. I am working on a solution, but I actually haven’t needed to treat this year, so it is still an intellectual exercise.
I vape from under the hive and let it drift up into the hive
Ah but you don’t have my incurable problem… 
I have this absolute need to follow the manufacturer’s instructions the first few times I do something. The manufacturer of my device tells me to occlude the hive entrance and seal up the hive as much as possible. So I feel I have to do this if I am going to use this treatment, and an open SBB would be introducing an unknown variable… 
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you’ll get over it LOL
Hi Dawn, are you okay to move the wire yourself?
If you can’t just send a photo to info@honeyflow.com with your order number/email address and we can send a replacement out.
Sorry about that… let us know how you go.
Hi Faroe, when I looked at it yesterday, it moved pretty easily with a fingernail. However, my nails are very brittle, so I will get out my jeweler’s pliers later today and see what I can do. If it doesn’t work, I will do as you suggest - thanks for the support. 
I actually think it is happening to a lot of people, and that is why there have been 3 or 4 posts where people describe seeing bees going through the SBB. Part of the hive setup should be to check the wire spacing and correct it before installing bees - a lot easier to do that on an empty hive!
Dawn
yes it’s a good suggestion. Although we have just re-done the manual, so this would have to be in a new edit, or maybe we can add it to the faq’s.
Not sure how this mesh is moving? Maybe just during transit…
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EUREKA!!! Woohoo, I am SO excited, I know what the problem is… 
@Faroe @Cedar @beethinking
The Flow SBB has been made with #6 Hardware cloth, not the usual #8!!! Plus, I have photographic proof! 
The size normally used for SBBs is #8 as no bees can get through it. Small bees can get through #6. In fact #6 is used in some pollen traps. I have a Bee Thinking non-Flow SBB and the mesh is DEFINITELY smaller than on the Flow SBB, as you can see in the photos. Personally, I will not use the Flow SBB now - I don’t want a bee leak. Shame, because it is a great design, except for the mesh size! 
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