Insulation Feed and ?

[Daisy]

I found this while out surfing the net....


I had a very experienced old beekeeper tell me that he puts one or two sheets of newspaper directly over his frames, pours white sugar over that and covers it up with the winter cover and the top. He said that in our area of the country (northwestern WI) humidity was more lethal to the bees than the cold. His theory is that the sugar absorbs the water condensing from the bees and the bees can then chew through the thin layers of newspaper to get to the moistened sugar. He has done this for years and I tried it one year with great success until a bear wiped me out in the spring. I sheltered my hives but didn't wrap them because any time the temp is above 50 the bees will fly on cleansing flights. If it is significantly warmer inside than out they will fly out and drop like lead balloons in the cold air. Make sure to keep the snow away from the entrance so they can get some ventilation. Good luck with your bees.

Comments?

[Iowabeeman]

It makes sense to me. Humidity is a problem. We handle this with insulation on top of the hive. My preferense is to feed the bees enough early to force them down. I would rather not have then against the lid until spring. When they come up, the heat is more concentrated and they can spread out for brood rearing. As with everything, it's what works for you in your location. If your system works, stick with it.

[clintonbemrose]

I'll third that one. Sounds good to me
Clint (learned a new one)


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Clinton Bemrose
just South of Lansing Michigan

[dickm]

>It makes sense to me. Humidity is a problem. We handle this with insulation on top of the hive.<

I know a lot of smart people use it, but I have trouble understanding how insulation does anything but keep water vapor IN the hive. If the insulation absorbs water, then don't you have a soggy mess or icy mess on top of your hive? How much can it hold? As I'm writing this, I'm thinking this may be one of those issues that is very sensitive to climate. I'm in CT. We usually have both cold and damp.

Dick Marron

[Ian]

>>how insulation does anything but keep water vapor IN the hive. If the insulation absorbs water, then don't you have a soggy mess or icy mess on top of your hive?

You don't want to hold the excess moisture in the hive, for it becomes deadly to the hive when it condences and forms into an ice block in your upper chamber. The insulation absorbs the moisture and wicks it out.

Ian

[MountainCamp]

*Newspaper and white sugar will both absorb moisture. This reduces the amount of free water vapor that will condense and cause your cluster problems. The white sugar also will become emergency feed if required by the bees.
-I sheltered my hives but didn't wrap them because any time the temp is above 50 the bees will fly on cleansing flights. If it is significantly warmer inside than out they will fly out and drop like lead balloons in the cold air.

*I do wrap my hives and have for the last seven years or more. I have not found any great problem with mass death flights in cold weather. Bees come out of the hive and check the weather and temperature before they fly. They do not just leave the hives and fly. Watch your hives, even in the summer first thing in the morning they mill around for awhile before the flights start.
What may be confused as bees dying because of the cold is housekeeping of dead bees.

*The %RH and temperatures both effect condensate formed in the hive during the winter. This has a large impact on the over wintering of colonies. The higher the average %RH, the more ventilation you want to provide.

I found this out as usual the hard way. Most of my hives are around where I live. Last year I put a number of hives down in the valley on a farm along the Hudson River. I set the hives up the same way I do at home. I lost (3) out of (6) hives at the Catskill yard, and lost none in Round Top. When talking with some of the beekeepers that keep hives along the river, my mistake was not allowing additional ventilation. Live and learn.

[oregonbeekeeper]

>how insulation does anything but keep water vapor IN the hive. If the insulation absorbs water, then don't you have a soggy mess or icy mess on top of your hive>

I overwinter my hives by filling the hive top feeders with high density foam (you know, the blue stuff they use on houses) and taping up the holes. The foam is a good form of insulation.

The insulation PREVENTS moisture by reducing the amount of condensation that forms. The greater the difference between the inside temp and temperature of the lid- the greater the amount of condensation.

I'm no "old timer" but it makes alot of sense to me to insulate the top of the hive and reduce the entrance to about 2 bee widths and be done with it. Top venting sounds good in theory and many people vent the tops of their hives with no problem but do a search on the internet and you'll find much evidence that this disrupts the natural convection of heat in the hive (hence the bees will propolize those holes shut if you let them).

Just my two cents.

[Ian]

I'm not sure how cold it gets in portland, up here we have long cold winters. The water vapour that comes off the bee cluster has to escape. One effective way to do this is with the top enterence. I like to keep my bees dry during the winter.

Ian

[Michael Bush]

I know a beekeeper who would just dump about five pounds of sugar down the back of the hive. I don't know how well it worked but he seemed to think it did. I've always gone for the top ventilation myself.