David,
Welcome to the club. My wife got to calling me the bee killer because I lost so many cutouts.
I run TBH's with a screened bottom. I was getting overrun with SHB and ants and the bees would abscond.
I have modified the screen bottom from #8 hardware cloth to metal window screen. The SHB don't even slow down at the #8 wire. I have caulked all of the joints and seams.
I put ant traps on the legs that i built myself. I put a 1/4" x 1-1/2" wooden strip around each leg and covered that with 2" wide aluminum flashing. The flashing overhangs the wood and creates a cavity that I fill with sticky board glue. The ants come crawling up the leg until they hit the glue and that stops them. If they don't get stuck in the glue, they run back down the leg. I caulk the cavity so the rain can't wash the glue out. The glue will stay sticky for a very long time.
[/url]
This is an "up the skirt shot"
I have in mind a plastic extrusion filled with sticky glue that I can make and sell. I should have it n the market in a week or two.
I also put a small queen excluder over the front entrance. Of course my entrance is a 1-1/4" dia. hole. There is no exterior landing board.
I use my version of the Bushkill vacuum box to collect the bees. Since I work both lang and TBH boxes I built a box that will hold 10 standard frames in one direction and 10 TBH bars in the other direction and it is 11-1/2" deep. I vacuum the bees into one box and put the honeycomb in a second one. When I am done, I connect the two boxes with a plastic tube and let the bees walk from the catch box into the honeycomb box.
I also have my own version of a SHB trap that attracts and keeps the beetles once they get in the hive. They are made with a Formica base that is covered with sticky board glue. In the center they have a small pad that is soaked in Apple Cider Vinegar and the whle top is #8 hardware cloth. The beetles crawl in but don't crawl out.
and with the wire cover in place
All this to keep a cutout in a box.
Feel free to PM me if you want details.
Regards
Joe