Questions about the full hive kit's bottom board's built in tilt

Modifications & Building Bee Hives
1

The screened bottom board (SBB) that came with my full hive kit has what seems like a 5 to 10 degree backwards tilt to it. Initially, I assumed the tilt was to help the hive drain collected water. But… after reading the forums and looking at the design, I am confident that is not the case. The slots for adding a solid floor to the SBB are below the tilted section and thus have 0 degrees of tilt resulting in no beneficial effect on drainage. And… it seems that Honeyflow recommends a backwards tilt while harvesting honey.

But… I don’t like my hive to be tilted. Every time I look at the hive, I think… “that hive looks a little off, like some inept person fell asleep during the ‘how to use a level’ lecture in shop class”. It bothers me. An internal battle is raging between tilting the hive as recommended versus ‘being a rebel and keeping it level’ (it rhymes).

I am going to let the hive tilt back unless you all convince me otherwise. Am I understanding everything correctly?

2

The tilt is only for the Flow-frames to drain properly. So stay with the minor tilt.

3

It is only 2 degrees, according to Flow. Amazing what the human eye can perceive! It is deliberate to help with the harvest. Don’t “correct” it. :smile:

By comparison, I am a pilot. A standard approach to landing at an airport is a 3 degree slope, but to my eye, it looks more like 20 or 30 degrees. Sometimes, we just can’t trust our brains! :wink:

4

Did you give up doctoring to fly or do you do both?
My daughter has a PPL and I love flying with her.

5

I measured mine. 3 degrees. I might play with reducing the tilt by 1 degree to see if it bothers me less.

6

Why not just tilt it when harvesting?

7

I might do that. But, I think it would be better if I just got used to the tilt. Maybe if I think of it like the Leaning Tower of Pisa (beautifully leaned vs. craftsman mistake).

8

I used to do both, now I do neither! :smile: I am a Private pilot, not Commercial - UK and US qualified, instrument and glider ratings too. My job now is trading on the stock market - pays better than medicine, and I have no boss or clients/patients. Best kind of job! Gives me time to look after bees too, because the market closes at 1pm on weekday afternoons (west coast time). Just about a perfect job for combining with beekeeping.

Dawn