The Paradise Honey hive bottom is a clever design, incorporating an extruded Varroa mesh bottom and a slide in Varroa plate. The Varroa mesh provides the beehive with excellent ventilation all year round and greatly improves the colony's ability to control Varroa, Small Hive Beatles and condensation. The Paradise Honey hive bottom has the added advantage of being immune from white ants and dry rot, ensuring many decades of life.
The hive bottom includes an aluminium Varroa mesh, which is resilient to rust and corrosion from exposure to the elements and any acidic Varroa treatments applied to the hive in the future. The mesh floor is the only component that needs to be installed to complete the hive bottom and is easily attached using self tapping screws. The hive bottom is designed with a slide in slot underneath the hive bottom to allow the Varroa tray (available separately) to be slid in and out easily.
While Varroa is not yet a problem in Australia, it very likely is a matter of when, not if Australia becomes affected by Varroa. Experience gained in Varroa affected areas confirms that the Varroa tray should be left out of the hive bottom unless Varroa monitoring is required or, there is a need warm the brood nest to encourage early spring build-up. In the case of spring build-up, the Varroa tray can be inserted into the slot, which completely closes off any airflow through the Varroa mesh. Once the spring brood build-up is established, the Varroa plate should be removed as soon as possible. Finally, compared to assembling traditional wooden hive bottoms, the Paradise Honey Hive Bottom simply requires painting with an exterior grade acrylic paint (Recommend two coats) and attach the Varroa mesh with 20mm self tapping screws.
