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Well I’ve finally completed my 3 underground modified « black mountain mesh floors » , hooray! Quite proud of them to be honest!! A neighbour cut the wood lengths, but due to lack of metal cutting equipment in the house not quite no nonsense for me as I made a real meal of cutting the screen floor…..but they’re complete and soon to be put under the hive. Cheers
I love the different entrances. I only have six hives but they all have a different entrance. It's quite funny to see that the bees have all mastered their own entrance but can't seem to work out the other entrances. I do have a landing board and dummy entrance on each hive, the robbers go straight for the dummy entrance which is just a ventilation hole.
Hi. Made 2 floors, open mesh version. Very good. Even better I reused wood from pallets. 1 inch thick. Very pleased. Coincidentally I had asked my son in law to simplify the floors we had been making. Thanks it was another great video. And your timing was excellent. Roof next please!
Very good video Laurence. That style of floor is what I use on all my hives. I hate to burst your bubble though. You can't patent it :-) The design is called a Brynmair floor, also known as a Kewl floor. The variation I use has a shallower back board, which leaves a lower gap. You then fit runners on the sides and you can slide in a tray for doing mite drop tests etc. Also, that allows you to close off the underside of the hive completely if you are carrying out oxalic vapourisation.
Ah sorry. I misread what you were saying. You can do that, but you will need to trim down the centre vertical piece otherwise it won't sit flush on the floor
Great Vid laurence...I'm gonna build a few of those hybrid versions with the smaller screen floor. Its murder here some years with the wasps!! Thanks m8!
Hello Laurence i enjoy your videos, great board easy to make but there is a small issue with it... when the bees come back from foraging they are heavy and with those they have to fly again after they land to enter the hive. i use a different type where there is a small slope before the entrance so they can walk in to the hive. this is a small detail.
Excellent video Laurence. Like the 3rd one best, especially for just the right amount of winter ventilation. Will be using your wasp entrance combined with a few other great ideas on the net plus a few personal ones. Aim is to substantially reduce winter colony mortality. Thoughts are that just like humans and other animals we are all prone to more disease in winter when cold and wet. It's a matter of using common sense husbandry methods which are already practiced on farm animals to keep bees healthy.
great video. no nonsense. i really want to do this. saw a couple of wasps recently, one going in the hive, and have minimised the size of my hive entrance. still waiting to see if the virgin queen has returned after a swarm manipulation . ergh. need to be better at looking for the queen too
Interesting concept. But there are some question to answer. 1. OK. If you build it with wet wood you probably don't have issue with swelling. 2. Dry wood need painting. Guess some oil or wax could fix this. 3. Entrence floor and rainwater. Could it be better with a little angle to the front. So water can run off and don't stay there? 4. Last but not least. Mitecontrol Anyway. I think I'll give it a try. Great work Laurence
A word of caution: I made a floor like this with a solid bottom. Recently looked and found the boards had swollen closing that narrow gap enough to trap the bees inside. Quite a lot of them dead! Hopefully the colony will recover with the old standard entrance back in place
I don't have a wasp problem here in TX, but we do fight SHB. I have read that they can't hover. Have you seen any marked difference in you hives using the underfloor entrance? There are several products out there ranging from entrance tubes, shaped entrances and overhangs on landing pads. If yours work, they are much simpler for SHB control.
I'm at 6.03 so not finished watching yet, but the easiest way to get the correct size spacer has to be the bottom bars of frames - they're 8x6mm, so using the 8mm side should do the job (at least, my Thornes bars are!)
I’ve just bought my first hive, I’ve never been stung by anything. I’m trying not to worry about it! I didn’t know about washing suits etc? Have you any advice on upkeep of suits or recommendations?
Hi there, I am in the USA and am wondering if the underfloor entrances help to stop robbing. I have an issue with that every year. Really enjoy your posts on RUclips. 👍👍
HonyokHoneyBees video here on RUclips shows how to prevent robbing with 1/8” mesh hardware cloth. You close the entrance but make a higher entrance for the bees that live in the hive, and the robbers can’t figure out how to get in the box. Hope this helps.
I like the look of these, thank you showing the construction of the three variations........Question: Bees are always removing debris, dead bees etc from the hive, have you noticed any problems with the bees being able to do this with this floor? Thanks, Tim
First, I built these for my 9 langstroth and 2 Warre hives and they work great. I used cedar for anything that was exposed to the weather and pine for the inside floor. I put in a slanted entrance board that slants up to the inside entrance. The bees seem to use it with no issues. here is my question. do you do anything in the winter to reduce the entrance and if so, what?
great tutorial thanks for this. Do you plan on making a tutorial for the brood boxes too? that would be really helpful given that spacing is really important
Cheers for the video. Made up 40 solid floors last week. Now for 40 multi-purpose crown boards. Total savings I believe it near £1500 for both. Did you not paint your floors, surely worth doing since the timber isn't treated?
Great video, thank you. You have obviously put a lot of thought in it to teach the construction methods in a very clear way, well done. Have you ever needed to reduce the entrance down in length, or, do you just leave the full length open all the time?
Cheers Ian. Nope never reduce these down. The wasps cant figure them out (in massive numbers) and mice dont fit through so they can remain open all year :)
Hi I liked the video do you use these bottom boards on your poly hives in the winter. I liked the idea of keeping heat in during winter and so many people in the UK are saying keep the varroa boards out all year round even in the Winter. Yet Americans are saying put them back in during Winter.
Yes I use these will poly. The heat loss from using these vs poly floors is negligible. Its the top insulation that's important. I dont think it makes a massive difference whether you leave the board in or out over winter. I definitely have them out over summer though.
Like the fact you use pallet wood and it makes a good floor we move our bees probably every month so to shut then in might be a problem I presume you don't use Mouse guards because the 8 mil keeps them out but you can't see if a mouse has chewed through the wood and made a bigger hole the last one yes it will keep the wasps out but if you put it on the floor it will keep the bees out. I like the two floors you did first. We are moving away from mesh floors and only using solid now 👍 👏
My favourite part of these floors is the ease in which you can get them ready for transport. 1 foam strip wedged between top of the floor and landing board and they are completely sealed. It takes me less than 5 seconds. Third floor needs to be on a mesh pallet or hive stand or you just have a 20mm overhang. It really confuses the wasps. They just cant work it out and the bees have free access.
Would it make a difference if the vertical opening was taller? the floor thick enough to accommodate an inspection sheet and perhaps even some insulation? I like some floor insulation here in northern Alberta.
Hi Lawrence, I really enjoy your content and learn a lot. I have built two of these under floor entrances however used solid floors, for the first time as I hadn’t any more mesh. On a standard national floor there is about an inch under the frames however on these, whether solid or mesh floor there is a bee space I guess. Does this affect the way the bees dispose of their dead or other material. I was thinking of putting a 2cm rim around the edge. Not sure whether this is good or not.
Maybe , by putting a tray under the mesh, it would allow for more insulation , and then on the handle of the tray put some closable mesh in the vertical for ventilation.
With the standard bottom board for Langstroth hives, there is a bit of additional space created by the raised lip on three sides. (to create the entrance) I'm not sure how important that gap below the frames is to the bees but it seems your design could include a strip of wood around the top perimeter to give the bee space back to the bottom of the hive? Yikes, I just read down and see that you already addressed this...never mind.
Hi Lawrence, great video! The wood you use - is it treated or untreated? Does it matter if I use treated timber? I seem to find it quite difficult to source untreated timber! Cheers, Colin.
Cheers Aros. Yes clamps are good if you are using decent, dry timber and PVA glue but screws, polyurethane and rough edges work fine. Ive got the Dewalt portable table saw and its excellent. www.toolstation.com/dewalt-210mm-1700w-compact-table-saw/p78653
Sorry to inform other bee keepers I tried the under floor entry the wasps loved it, within 10 minutes the were using it free and easy as the front entry point, it might help if the wasp load is light to start with and they never had your hive as a easy target in the first place. I lost quite a before I had to kill wasps very aggressively. Best methods is to have a strong disease free colony and move them if under attack from enemies including other local honeybees.
Its not a silver bullet to prevent wasp attacks and isnt designed to be used when under attack. Need big strong colonies to protect from wasps and UFEs can help them defend
@@BlackMountainHoney I have my hives on a solid concrete slabs…. So that’s why I was asking’ I have opted to build the floor with half and half wood and mesh… to solve the problem with the varroa treatment’ I decided to drill a 2 1/2 inch hole in the rear so I can treat with oxalic acid’ I will also find some cork or something and then bung the hole for winter drafts….. brilliant anti wasp design…👍 in fact I have just re inserted the wood plug back in and screwed a large screw back in the hole so I can go in and out as needed..
Same as with the other one (should have mentioned that). Tilt it back up and wedge a strip of foam into the hidden underfloor baffle. Works a treat and seals it within seconds. No nonsense style!
Hello Laurence, very impressed by your underfloor entrance floors. Personally, I will be making some of the hybrid floors this summer, as our hives are plagued by wasps at the end of the season. Upon the idea with that hybrid floor, as hornets are basically large wasps, what are your thoughts for this floor against the Asian Hornet? Very impressed with your tuition videos, I find them really helpful. Especially this last year as I have had to stand on my own two feet, owing to the dreaded pandemic!
Hey! Glad you find the videos are useful. Not sure how effective the floors are against hornets as we dont get any up here just yet. I would imagine it would slow them down a bit but they do a lot of damage by hawking from the outside
Hi . I know this is quite an old video but thought it was brill . I'm looking at taking up beekeeping this coming spring and would like to try and build the hives myself . Would you have or know of a good to follow video to help with this . Cheers Mark
Could I ask where the mm dimensions come from? Having made Bee hives for over 30 years all the dimensions are in inches (National hive is 18 1/8 square) which is 360.365mm ? Bee space on a National is 3/8", Langstroth is 1/4" neither of which is 8mm? None of the main manufacturers use mm on their cedar hives, so I wonder if this to match the poly types? Not having a go just interested, always enjoy your videos and direct a lot of our customers towards them for advice 👍
There isn't a general consensus on bee space in terms in either metric it imperial it seems. The fact Langstroth and National are both are in imperial and even they cannot agree what's correct. I guess the conversion of either of those to mm doesn't equal an integer so it's rounded up or down. From personal experience making rimmed crownboards, 8mm works well and my bees respect the space. Would they respect 7mm or 9mm. Probably. As long as its there abouts I reckon it's fine. The 8mm in the UFE came from the design I used from the beekeeping forum. Not sure of it's origin though
@@BlackMountainHoney Many thanks for the reply (you must be insanely busy in this current flow)! Interestingly when I spoke to a "famous" French beekeeper years ago he insisted the bee space MUST be 7mm! As with alot of things in beekeeping I bet the bees don't care all that much, as my first boss used to say "they haven't read any of the books".
Is there a follow-up on the last design with the front baffle where the bees enter underneath? A video showing the bees entering would be very interesting if you could get the camera up underneath. I don't have significant wasp issues, but I do have lots and lots of wind, and this design could provide a great wind baffle. I see below that you mention that you leave them on all winter. Do you think it would be OK even in high wind areas? Any thoughts on winds protection?
The baffle design works really well but its a bit awkward for the beekeeper if you are ever moving them. Bit harder to bung. It gives them great wind protection when in the hive but if its windy out, that will restrict flying anyway. We have some that are in a windy spot and they dont fly anywhere near as much!
Do you think a wire landing board would help bees defend from beetles? (I'm thinking the SHB can't hover to enter and would fall through a wire landing board, but bees loaded with nectar could land and get in.) I made an ant proof metal stand from trampoline parts on my channel...I'm learning!
Hey, would this underfloor entrance confuse robbing bees as well? Seems to me if the landing board space was a little lower it would almost look like those anti-robbing corridors you stick in the entrance only larger. 🤔
@@BlackMountainHoney where I live (30 miles north of London) we've had a real wasp issue over the last few years in September/October, so if this stops them I'm definitely making these for my hives👍
Laurence, I've now made these for all my hives. Do you sit them on something like correx in the winter or do you just leave them open? Just thinking about insolation
Hello and do not be bored ... Do you fully approve of this type of insole and is it completely standard and has no disadvantages? Thank you for answering❤🌹🐝
It confuses them upon entry. They dont understand in and then up straight away. Takes them ages to work it out. Also, the 8mm slot is better for the bees to defend against invasion
@@BlackMountainHoney thanks for the reply buddy. I had a wee problem last year, I reduced the entry and the Bees defended well, it’s left me a little paranoid for this coming year ( my first full season). I’ll knock a couple of these up. Thanks for the Video, they really make all the difference to someone like me. No courses etc. God bless mate 👍🏻
Made my self a few of these floors, but having problems with the solid floor one.Bees when exiting the hive crash and land on their backs,and i find that the pollen is getting knocked off
OK, I keep coming back to this but I have to ask, what can you do in response to a robbing scenario? I have simple screens that I can use with my reducers installed on a standard bottom board. I can't imagine what I'd do with the under-floor entrance. Anyone have a suggestion?
You have a comment on your under floor entrance from a man who said his wood swelled and restricted his entrance size to his hives and they couldn't get out. Do you ever have this problem and do you paint/treat your would. I'm in the process of putting together my first hive and I've ordered your bees and now I'm a bit worried in case I kill them. Sorry to bother you if this is a bit stupid 🐝
I built similar floors but at the back I used 1x1" batten. I then cut some thin strips and put it down the sides and made a correx tray that slips in. I personally use a sublimox so drilled a hole at an angle and capped it but with a wand vaporiser you could cut a piece of wood that fits in and set the wand device on top. Another option is to have a wooden rim around the bottom and make a rear entrance for the device to go in.
@@triggsterable My earlier iterations had access for varroa boards and wands but since I now use the sublimox from above I try and keep the floors as simple as possible. Im really not a fan of the wand type sublimators.
@@BlackMountainHoney The wands are too slow for anyone with more than 5 hives I reckon. I do like the simplicity of this design in that it removes my need for the correx tray and only needs one type of wood opposed to my three currently. Might have to reconsider top sublimation again.
@@triggsterable Sublimation from the top is all about speed for me. Im looking at modifying my brood boxes to see if I can somehow get in from the side for even easier access
If you have a top bee space hive, does it matter if you have the lip or not? I've been led to believe that it won't matter which bee space you run in your hive, the floor will still do the job. My only concern there is that if it's top bee space, the frames will touch the floor (or be very tight) and the bees will need to go right up and over the frames immediately. If you have a floor with a lip then obviously if helps navigate the lower frames a bit easier. Any advice?
If you are making for TBS definitely add a 8mm baton all the way around to give you a beespace under the frames. Be a nightmare when they start gluing the frames to the floor
One iteration for your last design, would be to incorporate the ApiShield design into it when the Asian hornet becomes established. The ApiShield is patented so I wouldn't make a video of that design.
Interesting. I will take a look at that. Never heard of it. Im not sure we will ever have issues with Asian Hornets so far north. By the time they become a problem, our bees are tucked up for winter!
Would you explain for what reason you need the underfloor entrance? You spend all the time telling how to build it, but I see no reason for this device.
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I’m liking those plastic pallets
Excellent video! Thank you
Well I’ve finally completed my 3 underground modified « black mountain mesh floors » , hooray! Quite proud of them to be honest!! A neighbour cut the wood lengths, but due to lack of metal cutting equipment in the house not quite no nonsense for me as I made a real meal of cutting the screen floor…..but they’re complete and soon to be put under the hive. Cheers
Made four of these in a couple hours from some leftover pallets for my Lang’s. Thank you for this video!
Cheers! Hope they went ok. Really nice and simple and easy to mod for the TBS langs
@@BlackMountainHoney worked so well I have converted all 10 of my Hives bottoms to screened versions.
Just made one of these. Have to say there brilliant and now saves me £16,50 on polly floors
Glad you like them Paul
I love the different entrances. I only have six hives but they all have a different entrance. It's quite funny to see that the bees have all mastered their own entrance but can't seem to work out the other entrances. I do have a landing board and dummy entrance on each hive, the robbers go straight for the dummy entrance which is just a ventilation hole.
Thank you. I have a relative and also a friend with wood mills. I think I will put in a lumber request.
Great video ! Thank you.
Excellent! Thanks
Excellent video, Lawrence. Could you please make a video in the future explaining how to protect bees from wasps, please?
Well done 👍🏽 no wasp problem here yet but good information for the future 👍🏽❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️thank you
Hi. Made 2 floors, open mesh version. Very good. Even better I reused wood from pallets. 1 inch thick. Very pleased. Coincidentally I had asked my son in law to simplify the floors we had been making. Thanks it was another great video. And your timing was excellent.
Roof next please!
Hi Tony. Glad you found is useful. Great use for pallet wood! Ill have a think about a roof :)
Very good video Laurence. That style of floor is what I use on all my hives. I hate to burst your bubble though. You can't patent it :-) The design is called a Brynmair floor, also known as a Kewl floor. The variation I use has a shallower back board, which leaves a lower gap. You then fit runners on the sides and you can slide in a tray for doing mite drop tests etc. Also, that allows you to close off the underside of the hive completely if you are carrying out oxalic vapourisation.
No bubble burst. I credit Emyr in the video ;)
Thanks for that Laurence. I have problems with wasps every year so will get my saw out and give the design a try. Kindest regards Peter
Cheers Peter. Good luck with them :)
Can wasps not get in through the slot ?
Aviation snips make very easy work of the mesh, you can buy them with angled blades to save skinning your knuckles cutting sheets
Interesting to know where the design came from, he lives about 10 minutes from me, great chap.
I'm going to make some of these this winter for my Langstroth hives for this upcoming spring, thank you!
Be sure to add the 8mm beespace rim on top for Langstroth as they are TBS
@@BlackMountainHoney Could you just fix the cross members on 8mm from the top?
@@ianwatkins3002 Yep. Thats exactly what I do to make it TBS
Ah sorry. I misread what you were saying. You can do that, but you will need to trim down the centre vertical piece otherwise it won't sit flush on the floor
@@BlackMountainHoney Seems easier than cutting a load of 8mm strips 🙂
Great Vid laurence...I'm gonna build a few of those hybrid versions with the smaller screen floor. Its murder here some years with the wasps!! Thanks m8!
Excellent patent!!! I think here in South Africa that would be a good plan to keep the black big bug, like small hive beetle out of our hives!!
Couple of people have mentioned it may help against SHB. I have no experience of this pest so would great to see if it can help against it
Thanks for your amazing videos. I've watched so many of them and love how you approach explaining things.
Hello Laurence i enjoy your videos, great board easy to make but there is a small issue with it... when the bees come back from foraging they are heavy and with those they have to fly again after they land to enter the hive. i use a different type where there is a small slope before the entrance so they can walk in to the hive. this is a small detail.
Great video, definitely making some of these.
Cheers Graham. Good luck with them! :)
Excellent video Laurence. Like the 3rd one best, especially for just the right amount of winter ventilation.
Will be using your wasp entrance combined with a few other great ideas on the net plus a few personal ones.
Aim is to substantially reduce winter colony mortality.
Thoughts are that just like humans and other animals we are all prone to more disease in winter when cold and wet. It's a matter of using common sense husbandry methods which are already practiced on farm animals to keep bees healthy.
great video. no nonsense. i really want to do this. saw a couple of wasps recently, one going in the hive, and have minimised the size of my hive entrance. still waiting to see if the virgin queen has returned after a swarm manipulation . ergh. need to be better at looking for the queen too
Interesting concept. But there are some question to answer.
1. OK. If you build it with wet wood you probably don't have issue with swelling.
2. Dry wood need painting. Guess some oil or wax could fix this.
3. Entrence floor and rainwater. Could it be better with a little angle to the front. So water can run off and don't stay there?
4. Last but not least. Mitecontrol
Anyway. I think I'll give it a try.
Great work Laurence
A word of caution: I made a floor like this with a solid bottom. Recently looked and found the boards had swollen closing that narrow gap enough to trap the bees inside. Quite a lot of them dead! Hopefully the colony will recover with the old standard entrance back in place
I don't have a wasp problem here in TX, but we do fight SHB. I have read that they can't hover. Have you seen any marked difference in you hives using the underfloor entrance? There are several products out there ranging from entrance tubes, shaped entrances and overhangs on landing pads. If yours work, they are much simpler for SHB control.
I'm at 6.03 so not finished watching yet, but the easiest way to get the correct size spacer has to be the bottom bars of frames - they're 8x6mm, so using the 8mm side should do the job (at least, my Thornes bars are!)
I’ve just bought my first hive, I’ve never been stung by anything. I’m trying not to worry about it! I didn’t know about washing suits etc? Have you any advice on upkeep of suits or recommendations?
Cracking tutorial.My boards were all 5 1//2 inch wide so i cut them to Length then ripped them down to 3 inch,the offcuts are the right size for a eke
Cheers Stuart. Glad you found it useful
Hi there, I am in the USA and am wondering if the underfloor entrances help to stop robbing. I have an issue with that every year. Really enjoy your posts on RUclips. 👍👍
Yes they certainly do. You still need to reduce entrances to help against wasps/robbing but it makes the entrance much more defendable
HonyokHoneyBees video here on RUclips shows how to prevent robbing with 1/8” mesh hardware cloth. You close the entrance but make a higher entrance for the bees that live in the hive, and the robbers can’t figure out how to get in the box. Hope this helps.
I like the look of these, thank you showing the construction of the three variations........Question: Bees are always removing debris, dead bees etc from the hive, have you noticed any problems with the bees being able to do this with this floor? Thanks, Tim
Nope. No problems at all. They clear everything through the slot just fine :)
Have you considered adding a metal flashing at the 8 mm slot to keep mice from chewing through in winter?
Is the timber treated?
Using couple of 8mm drill bits as spacers would give precision in forming the gap
First, I built these for my 9 langstroth and 2 Warre hives and they work great. I used cedar for anything that was exposed to the weather and pine for the inside floor. I put in a slanted entrance board that slants up to the inside entrance. The bees seem to use it with no issues. here is my question. do you do anything in the winter to reduce the entrance and if so, what?
great tutorial thanks for this. Do you plan on making a tutorial for the brood boxes too? that would be really helpful given that spacing is really important
Cheers for the video. Made up 40 solid floors last week. Now for 40 multi-purpose crown boards. Total savings I believe it near £1500 for both. Did you not paint your floors, surely worth doing since the timber isn't treated?
You can paint them or stain them or wax dip them would be even better! Massive savings to be had from making them though.
Great video, thank you. You have obviously put a lot of thought in it to teach the construction methods in a very clear way, well done. Have you ever needed to reduce the entrance down in length, or, do you just leave the full length open all the time?
Cheers Ian. Nope never reduce these down. The wasps cant figure them out (in massive numbers) and mice dont fit through so they can remain open all year :)
Hi I liked the video do you use these bottom boards on your poly hives in the winter. I liked the idea of keeping heat in during winter and so many people in the UK are saying keep the varroa boards out all year round even in the Winter. Yet Americans are saying put them back in during Winter.
Yes I use these will poly. The heat loss from using these vs poly floors is negligible. Its the top insulation that's important. I dont think it makes a massive difference whether you leave the board in or out over winter. I definitely have them out over summer though.
Like the fact you use pallet wood and it makes a good floor we move our bees probably every month so to shut then in might be a problem I presume you don't use Mouse guards because the 8 mil keeps them out but you can't see if a mouse has chewed through the wood and made a bigger hole the last one yes it will keep the wasps out but if you put it on the floor it will keep the bees out. I like the two floors you did first. We are moving away from mesh floors and only using solid now 👍 👏
My favourite part of these floors is the ease in which you can get them ready for transport. 1 foam strip wedged between top of the floor and landing board and they are completely sealed. It takes me less than 5 seconds. Third floor needs to be on a mesh pallet or hive stand or you just have a 20mm overhang. It really confuses the wasps. They just cant work it out and the bees have free access.
Would it make a difference if the vertical opening was taller? the floor thick enough to accommodate an inspection sheet and perhaps even some insulation? I like some floor insulation here in northern Alberta.
It can be as tall as you like and easy mod to include an inspection tray/insulation
Quick question, how do you find these bottom boards for over wintering the bees or do you go back to the standard bottom boards?
Hi Lawrence,
I really enjoy your content and learn a lot. I have built two of these under floor entrances however used solid floors, for the first time as I hadn’t any more mesh. On a standard national floor there is about an inch under the frames however on these, whether solid or mesh floor there is a bee space I guess. Does this affect the way the bees dispose of their dead or other material. I was thinking of putting a 2cm rim around the edge. Not sure whether this is good or not.
I will try to work out the dimensions. But, you might want to add SAE measurements for us Yanks on the other side of the Pond. Lol
Did I hear say you were doing a video of a new design soon? I was going to build some over winter for next so will wait for the new version if so
That's right. Only a minor tweak to add a monitoring board
Think I'd cut that back piece in half and then use some beading to allow for a varroa board
is it not a bit awkward then to do a varroa count? Or would the solid floor not prevent varroa from dropping out?
Maybe , by putting a tray under the mesh, it would allow for more insulation , and then on the handle of the tray put some closable mesh in the vertical for ventilation.
With the standard bottom board for Langstroth hives, there is a bit of additional space created by the raised lip on three sides. (to create the entrance) I'm not sure how important that gap below the frames is to the bees but it seems your design could include a strip of wood around the top perimeter to give the bee space back to the bottom of the hive? Yikes, I just read down and see that you already addressed this...never mind.
Hi Lawrence, great video! The wood you use - is it treated or untreated? Does it matter if I use treated timber? I seem to find it quite difficult to source untreated timber! Cheers, Colin.
Hi Colin. I use treated wood. I wouldn't use it anywhere else on the hive but its fine for the floor. Means they last for years as well.
@@BlackMountainHoney Is this pressure treated "green" timber? Where do you get yours from? A fencing supplier, a builders merchant or a timber yard?
@@ianwatkins3002 Yeah. Any building yard will stock it. I use pressure treated 4 x 1 timber
Which insole do you like first, second or third?
We mainly use the first as its easier to make
Great video as always. I find a corner mitre clamp helps when screwing the corners together. Please can you recommend a table saw?
Cheers Aros. Yes clamps are good if you are using decent, dry timber and PVA glue but screws, polyurethane and rough edges work fine. Ive got the Dewalt portable table saw and its excellent.
www.toolstation.com/dewalt-210mm-1700w-compact-table-saw/p78653
Sorry to inform other bee keepers I tried the under floor entry the wasps loved it, within 10 minutes the were using it free and easy as the front entry point, it might help if the wasp load is light to start with and they never had your hive as a easy target in the first place. I lost quite a before I had to kill wasps very aggressively. Best methods is to have a strong disease free colony and move them if under attack from enemies including other local honeybees.
Its not a silver bullet to prevent wasp attacks and isnt designed to be used when under attack. Need big strong colonies to protect from wasps and UFEs can help them defend
Great vid
They look very good floors
Do you use these floors all year round?
And how do you check Verona counts?
Yes. I use them all year. When I monitor I place the whole hive on a correx crown board for the monitoring period.
I really like the design, and made a couple of solid floor ones... But I noticed that the bees are struggling to take off.
How would you like do the varroa treatment with this floor…?
Just slot a correx board under the whole hive of you can create an insert for a monitoring board
@@BlackMountainHoney I have my hives on a solid concrete slabs…. So that’s why I was asking’ I have opted to build the floor with half and half wood and mesh… to solve the problem with the varroa treatment’ I decided to drill a 2 1/2 inch hole in the rear so I can treat with oxalic acid’ I will also find some cork or something and then bung the hole for winter drafts….. brilliant anti wasp design…👍 in fact I have just re inserted the wood plug back in and screwed a large screw back in the hole so I can go in and out as needed..
Great video and love the simplicity. On version 3, how would you close the entrance up if moving the hive?
Same as with the other one (should have mentioned that). Tilt it back up and wedge a strip of foam into the hidden underfloor baffle. Works a treat and seals it within seconds. No nonsense style!
Where is the best place to buy the wire mesh? Thanks
Hi there
Great video thanks for sharing
Got a wee question though ....how do you block the entrance for moving hives?
cheers. big foam bung. works a treat
Black Mountain Honey
So your blocking the “tunnel” and not just the 8mm gap?
@@craigjohnston2508 Thats right. It gives an easy place to jam something in.
Black Mountain Honey
Cheers mate
Hello Laurence, very impressed by your underfloor entrance floors. Personally, I will be making some of the hybrid floors this summer, as our hives are plagued by wasps at the end of the season. Upon the idea with that hybrid floor, as hornets are basically large wasps, what are your thoughts for this floor against the Asian Hornet? Very impressed with your tuition videos, I find them really helpful. Especially this last year as I have had to stand on my own two feet, owing to the dreaded pandemic!
Hey! Glad you find the videos are useful. Not sure how effective the floors are against hornets as we dont get any up here just yet. I would imagine it would slow them down a bit but they do a lot of damage by hawking from the outside
Hi . I know this is quite an old video but thought it was brill . I'm looking at taking up beekeeping this coming spring and would like to try and build the hives myself . Would you have or know of a good to follow video to help with this .
Cheers Mark
Could I ask where the mm dimensions come from? Having made Bee hives for over 30 years all the dimensions are in inches (National hive is 18 1/8 square) which is 360.365mm ? Bee space on a National is 3/8", Langstroth is 1/4" neither of which is 8mm? None of the main manufacturers use mm on their cedar hives, so I wonder if this to match the poly types? Not having a go just interested, always enjoy your videos and direct a lot of our customers towards them for advice 👍
There isn't a general consensus on bee space in terms in either metric it imperial it seems. The fact Langstroth and National are both are in imperial and even they cannot agree what's correct.
I guess the conversion of either of those to mm doesn't equal an integer so it's rounded up or down.
From personal experience making rimmed crownboards, 8mm works well and my bees respect the space. Would they respect 7mm or 9mm. Probably. As long as its there abouts I reckon it's fine.
The 8mm in the UFE came from the design I used from the beekeeping forum. Not sure of it's origin though
@@BlackMountainHoney
Many thanks for the reply (you must be insanely busy in this current flow)! Interestingly when I spoke to a "famous" French beekeeper years ago he insisted the bee space MUST be 7mm! As with alot of things in beekeeping I bet the bees don't care all that much, as my first boss used to say "they haven't read any of the books".
Is there a follow-up on the last design with the front baffle where the bees enter underneath? A video showing the bees entering would be very interesting if you could get the camera up underneath. I don't have significant wasp issues, but I do have lots and lots of wind, and this design could provide a great wind baffle. I see below that you mention that you leave them on all winter. Do you think it would be OK even in high wind areas? Any thoughts on winds protection?
The baffle design works really well but its a bit awkward for the beekeeper if you are ever moving them. Bit harder to bung. It gives them great wind protection when in the hive but if its windy out, that will restrict flying anyway. We have some that are in a windy spot and they dont fly anywhere near as much!
How do you seal entrance for moving bees
hi Laurence, where do you recommend i get the plastic pallets from? thanks mate
Ebay is a good bet.
Do you think a wire landing board would help bees defend from beetles? (I'm thinking the SHB can't hover to enter and would fall through a wire landing board, but bees loaded with nectar could land and get in.)
I made an ant proof metal stand from trampoline parts on my channel...I'm learning!
Hey, would this underfloor entrance confuse robbing bees as well? Seems to me if the landing board space was a little lower it would almost look like those anti-robbing corridors you stick in the entrance only larger. 🤔
So does this stop robbing or would you still need some kind of entrance reducer? Love this idea though
Really helps with robbing from wasps. Doesn't make much of a difference from robbing from other bees.
Really helps with robbing from wasps. Doesn't make much of a difference from robbing from other bees.
@@BlackMountainHoney where I live (30 miles north of London) we've had a real wasp issue over the last few years in September/October, so if this stops them I'm definitely making these for my hives👍
@@bluelab5019 Definitely helps. You can use foam bungs to further reduce entrances if required
What size is the mesh screen? Like window screen?
Laurence, I've now made these for all my hives. Do you sit them on something like correx in the winter or do you just leave them open? Just thinking about insolation
Mine stay open all winter
Hello and do not be bored ... Do you fully approve of this type of insole and is it completely standard and has no disadvantages? Thank you for answering❤🌹🐝
Hiya buddy, these floors look great. Could I ask, how they deter wasps please. Keep up the great work mate 👍🏻
It confuses them upon entry. They dont understand in and then up straight away. Takes them ages to work it out. Also, the 8mm slot is better for the bees to defend against invasion
@@BlackMountainHoney thanks for the reply buddy. I had a wee problem last year, I reduced the entry and the Bees defended well, it’s left me a little paranoid for this coming year ( my first full season). I’ll knock a couple of these up. Thanks for the Video, they really make all the difference to someone like me. No courses etc. God bless mate 👍🏻
Do you change the mesh floor in winter?
Depends on exposure. If they are out of the wind, we leave them. If its windy and exposed we pop them on top of a correx board to block the airflow
Made my self a few of these floors, but having problems with the solid floor one.Bees when exiting the hive crash and land on their backs,and i find that the pollen is getting knocked off
Thats strange. I have never seen that. Maybe remove the landing boards if thats causing the issue?
Thanks for the video. great floors. You think this 8 mm gap is big enough for a virgin queen to go through before and after mating?
Yeah. Its a single beespace so even mated queens can get out. Need to watch those swarms! :)
hi Lawrence, just wondering what the plastic pallets were called and where you get them, they look loads better than wooden pallets 👍
How is this with battling honey robbing
Will this help with SHB ?
OK, I keep coming back to this but I have to ask, what can you do in response to a robbing scenario? I have simple screens that I can use with my reducers installed on a standard bottom board. I can't imagine what I'd do with the under-floor entrance. Anyone have a suggestion?
You have a comment on your under floor entrance from a man who said his wood swelled and restricted his entrance size to his hives and they couldn't get out. Do you ever have this problem and do you paint/treat your would. I'm in the process of putting together my first hive and I've ordered your bees and now I'm a bit worried in case I kill them. Sorry to bother you if this is a bit stupid 🐝
stainless steel , non magnetic mesh. the way to go, but where to get it`?
How do you vape the hives with these floors?
I use the sublimox from the top into an eke which means you dont need to have a varroa tray in. Much quicker and more effective dispersion of OA
I built similar floors but at the back I used 1x1" batten. I then cut some thin strips and put it down the sides and made a correx tray that slips in. I personally use a sublimox so drilled a hole at an angle and capped it but with a wand vaporiser you could cut a piece of wood that fits in and set the wand device on top.
Another option is to have a wooden rim around the bottom and make a rear entrance for the device to go in.
@@triggsterable My earlier iterations had access for varroa boards and wands but since I now use the sublimox from above I try and keep the floors as simple as possible. Im really not a fan of the wand type sublimators.
@@BlackMountainHoney The wands are too slow for anyone with more than 5 hives I reckon.
I do like the simplicity of this design in that it removes my need for the correx tray and only needs one type of wood opposed to my three currently. Might have to reconsider top sublimation again.
@@triggsterable Sublimation from the top is all about speed for me. Im looking at modifying my brood boxes to see if I can somehow get in from the side for even easier access
If you have a top bee space hive, does it matter if you have the lip or not? I've been led to believe that it won't matter which bee space you run in your hive, the floor will still do the job. My only concern there is that if it's top bee space, the frames will touch the floor (or be very tight) and the bees will need to go right up and over the frames immediately. If you have a floor with a lip then obviously if helps navigate the lower frames a bit easier.
Any advice?
If you are making for TBS definitely add a 8mm baton all the way around to give you a beespace under the frames. Be a nightmare when they start gluing the frames to the floor
@@BlackMountainHoney thanks Lawrence! Always good to know you'll reply with sound advice 👍
@@chris5931 No worries 👍
How does work for SHB?
Hi. Looks easy enough to build. How do you do your mite checks with no place for board?
You can pin runners on underside for a monitoring board or I just lift the whole hive up onto one of my correx crownboards and it does the same job.
One iteration for your last design, would be to incorporate the ApiShield design into it when the Asian hornet becomes established. The ApiShield is patented so I wouldn't make a video of that design.
Interesting. I will take a look at that. Never heard of it. Im not sure we will ever have issues with Asian Hornets so far north. By the time they become a problem, our bees are tucked up for winter!
Woodprix is a solid company with solid woodworking plans.
Where do you get your mesh from ??
themeshcompany.com/
@@BlackMountainHoney thank you
Would this deter SHB?
No. Wouldn't have thought so. Could somehow integrate a trap maybe. I have no experience with SHB and I hope it stays that way! 😀
@@BlackMountainHoney they cannot fly up
@@sigma_kappa Might be useful then
I think the 8 mm is to small. That is less than of inch 3/8". I think I would make this at least 3/8" which is 9.25 mil.
its that easy you could use pallet wood
Yep. Pallet wood works really well and is cheap!
screw sizes please ?
I tried this floor to stop a wasp robbing the hive. However wasps are following bees in and still robbing the hives..
Does wasps are realy that stupid that they can't figure out to fly up?
Combo of they can't work it out AND it's more easily defendable as it's a single 8mm slot
Would you explain for what reason you need the underfloor entrance? You spend all the time telling how to build it, but I see no reason for this device.
can you please speak more clear and slow so every one understsnd
Please don't say the same thing five or six times. Say it once and get on with it.
Leave him alone grumpy hole !! The man is doing a good job . Well done great vid ..