Galvanised ventilation grid for hive floors

01 · A VENT, NOT A MESH FLOOR

Ventilating without opening the whole base

Worth being clear before ordering, because it is the mix-up that generates most returns: this is a 50 mm wide strip, not a mesh that replaces the hive floor. And that is precisely the point of it. An open mesh floor opens the whole base — it ventilates a great deal and lets varroa drop through, but it gives up the solid floor; a perforated strip lets air through in one specific area and keeps the rest of the floor. That is what you want when building or repairing a wooden floor and you need ventilation without remaking the whole piece.

02 · TWO SIZES: MEASURE THE OPENING

230 mm for a nucleus, 420 mm for a hive

It comes in 230 × 50 mm for nuclei and 420 × 50 mm for hives, and the choice does not go by the name but by the gap: measure the opening or the seating area of your floor before deciding. The 50 mm width is fixed on both, so the only thing that changes is the length — and if your floor is home-made, that figure governs over any label.

03 · BEFORE YOU BUY

Fixing is not universal: it depends on the floor material and how its joints are made, so it has to be adapted to the design in front of you. The sheet is 0.5 mm galvanised, enough to take handling without distorting but thin enough to work. And a reminder that does no harm in summer: a vent helps air circulate, but it does not replace shade, water or a good site when the heat sets in.