As they were filling in the holes I decided to give them the insulated lid back as I believe it will protect them from the heat of the sun due to them being filled with 25mm of extruded foam sandwiched between two sheets of ply.
They also don’t leave any space above the frames to build burr comb which I’m not a fan of.
I’m starting to see benefits from the new baseboards I’ve started using and both hives are booming without any signs of swarming so far this spring.
Hi Stevo,
Are you talking about the Hiverly (sp?) base boards? If so, what are the benefits. I know they claim SHB control. Has that been the case for you? What other benefits you’ve noticed? Cheers
Yes the Hiverly bases.
I am finding many beetles and a few wax moth larvae desiccated in the DE powder I’m using in the trays, and less running around in the hive.
Rather than a full screen these bases have smooth plastic ‘plates’ with holes cut for the shb to go through. I find that with a full mesh screen a great deal of pollen is stripped from incoming workers, falls into the tray and is wasted. This has been markedly reduced.
The slotted top I believe is providing two benefits, the first being it provides a much smaller area for the beetles to penetrate into the brood box, so the bees can patrol much easier.
The other is the usual perceived benefits you get from a traditional slotted board in terms of ventilation and reduced draughts.
The base allows you to add or remove entrance reducers very easily, and I have mine setup with a fully open entrance with the remaining three sides setup as vents, on a warm evening I can literally feel them pushing the hot air down and out through the vents, and as the internal area of the base is vented, it provides an area for bees to hangout without bearding on the exterior.
These bases are built out of premium materials, are very strong and can be fully dismantled if required for cleaning or maintenance.
It’s also the first base I’ve used that doesn’t allow large amounts of rain to collect in the tray - stays almost completely dry.
I don’t see them as a magical solution to SHB, but rather a well though out and constructed design that integrates a lot of features better than other bases I’ve used or considered.
Thanks for that. I actually got one a while back (July) and planned to add to a split when it happens. I therefore haven’t tried it yet, but your feedback is great. All I can add is I got a lot of splinters handling it and the price seems to have exploded since I bought it. It’s up 30%, which in my view is a stretch in addition to their OTT postage and handling, so I wont be getting another anytime soon unfortunately.
Yeah I got in before the price went up, but the design has been revised and looks good. I had been paying $85 for a much more basic screened bottom board so I don’t see it as that expensive but still not cheap.
I’m pretty OCD so I pulled mine apart and gave them a good sanding. They seem to stand up to moisture very well when unpainted.