Bovard rack? Really?

The following comment came yesterday in response to the post, “How to use a slatted rack.” I’ve decided to answer the allegations one by one.

Your comments about slatted racks is inaccurate. First the original designer was a man in Hawaii by the name of Bovard back in the 1960s, hence Bovard Racks was the original name.

I don’t see how it’s inaccurate to call a rack with slats a “slatted rack.” Once upon a time, the old-fashioned slatted rack with crosswise slats was referred to as a “Bovard rack.” But the original idea for a slatted resting place below the brood chamber was developed by Dr. C. C. Miller in 1900 and refined by Carl Killion in 1950. Brovard merely came up with a way to build the device in one easy-to-use piece.

Although modern slatted racks maintain the 4-inch wide board in front (conceived by Killion), the slats now run parallel to the frames instead of crosswise so they can be used effectively with screened bottom boards. With the change went the name, and the current rendition of slatted racks are called—wait for this—slatted racks. I invite you to look at the ones for sale at places like BetterBee, Brushy Mountain Bee Farm, or Ruhl Bee Supply.

In any case, the subject of the post on which you are commenting is how to use a slatted rack, not how to name one.

Second, the wide board in the front of the hive directs any incoming air to go up through the cluster so reducing cold air going up past the cluster. The strips are placed crosswise to break up incoming air at the hive entrance. Bees cluster in the 3/8″ spaces thus controlling air movement up through the cluster resulting in a larger cluster going into winter and a warmer colony in the spring – if the bee colony is large enough.

The slats are no longer placed crosswise. Plus, you are asserting that cold air going through the cluster is better than cold air going around it? Are you sure?

Third, the space below the crosswise slats is not dead air. Any space wider than 1/4″ allows for air movement or tirbulance (sic) as you refer to it. That is why thermo pane windows are spaced the way they are.

First, as I illustrated above, the slats are no longer crosswise, they are longwise. Yes, you can still buy plans for the other type, if that’s what you prefer. Again I quote, BetterBee: “Our slatted rack can be used in combination with our Varroa screens. The slats run from back to front so that they are directly under the hive body frames. That way when the Varroa mites fall naturally off the bees, they fall through the slats and through the Varroa screen.”

Regarding dead air space, let me quote Ruhl Bee Supply, “Installed between the bottom board and the bottom brood chamber, [the slatted rack] creates dead air space at the bottom of the brood chamber, keeping the bottom of the hive more protected, and encourages the queen to lay lower in the comb.” Or maybe you prefer Beekeepingandbeehives.com, “The extra space produced by the slatted rack is said to keep a beehive warmer in the winter and cooler in the summer by creating dead air space.”

By the way, double or triple paned windows are designed to reduce heat transfer and prevent condensation. The space between the panes is great enough to reduce conductive heat loss and small enough to prevent convective currents. In any case, these windows are closed systems and in no way compare to slatted racks which are open to the outside air and populated with bees.

Fourth, USDA research says that non-reproductive mites are the ones that fall to the hive bottom board and through a screen bottom board. Hence the board becomes unnecessary to colony survival from Varroa.

It’s impossible to tell if your second sentence refers to the hive bottom board or the screened bottom board. But no matter—nowhere in my post do I say or imply that either one is “necessary to colony survival.” In fact, I’ve often said that I don’t believe screened bottom boards are as helpful as we once hoped. In any case, I don’t see where I’ve said anything inaccurate. Again the subject here is how to use a slatted rack should you decide to do so—not whether screened bottom boards are helpful in varroa control.

Fifth, the rack allows the bees to control air movement, and swarm queen cells can be found on the bottom bars of the bottom brood nest because it is warmer above the rack. This results in larger colonies and faster buildup in the spring provided the queens and colony size is optimal for other reasons.

In my post I say, “Because a slatted rack moves the bottom of the brood chamber further from the entrance, the queen tends to lay eggs all the way to the bottom of the frames, thus extending the brood pattern.” This comports with your assertion that queen cells may be found lower in the hive. I do not speculate on whether this results in larger colonies and faster build-up because I simply do not have any proof of that. But I’m still looking for the alleged inaccuracy. Where is it?

I thought you should know these issues.

And here’s an issue for you to consider: Here at Honey Bee Suite, I do not make things up . . . I look things up. I have made mistakes in interpretation in the past, so when a comment like yours comes in, I spend a lot of time re-researching so that if I have made an error I can correct it. If I don’t know or understand an issue I will say so. I probably type the phrase “I don’t know” more than any other. Your kind of shotgun approach—the everything-you-say-here-is-wrong approach—wastes a lot of time and doesn’t yield any benefit. I stand by my original post.

Rusty
HoneyBeeSuite