I made another bottom board from scrap wood I found in my shed, just like the first one, but this time I cut a big hole in the bottom and stapled a screen over the hole. Hence, the world’s cheapest, ugliest screened bottom board:

The screen is not the standard 1/8th screen. It’s just some old mosquito and insect screening, which is fine for a mite-free province like Newfoundland. I stapled Masonite to the back and front of the screen to cover the sharp bits. The plywood is cheap, but strong enough to get through the rest of the summer. Humidity in the hive is not a good thing. I’ll see if the screened bottom board makes a difference after I install it on one of my hives in a few days. And here’s what the underside looks like:

That’s some fancy pants carpentry going on.

August 22nd, 2011: This is just a prototype made from scrap lumber and other materials I happened to have around. It ain’t pretty, but it’s working beautifully so far. Stay tuned for further updates on the design. I just figured out a cheap and easy way to transform it into a dual solid & screened bottom board, a.k.a. a summer & winter bottom board.

January 20th, 2015: This bottom board eventually rotted away because I placed it flat on a pallet and the wood became moist. These days I always put a small stick (or a piece of strapping as I believe its called by people who know these things) underneath the back edge of my bottom boards. It helps water drain out and keeps the bottom board from rotting where it makes contact with the pallet (I use pallets as my hive stands).