Hive covers

[wfarler]

In Texas the summers are dreadfully hot. I use wooden hives but the adverts on the polystyrene hives claim they are cooler in the summer. What about using a foam hive cover with a regular hive?

How about using an insulating foam board incorporated into a homemade hive cover? Any thoughts on if the bees would tear up the foam? Maybe use a foam house cladding that has a foil or vinyl surface? Anyone tried?

I'm about to go build 15 covers next week so any thoughts would be appreciated.

[Todd Zeiner]

I have had good luck with a ventilated inner cover developed by Tim Arheit on this site. (I think he came up with it.

It is basically an empty box put above the top super. It has a piece of 1/4 luan with a hole cut just like the inner cover. Then 1" holes cut around the outside with screen covering the holes. You can also add an upper entrance if you want. I could tell the difference when it was hot. The hives without the vent cover were bearding on the fron of the hive.

Maybe if Tim see's this he can provide mor details.

[Ben Brewcat]

http://www.honeyrunapiaries.com/beekeeping_plans.phtml

I've made a Tarheit-style ventilation box and bees seemed to love it. No bearding in full sun at 106 degrees. I also use a SBB.

[Robert Hawkins]

<any thoughts would be appreciated.>

Did you really mean any thoughts. Obviously we don't have the heat you have but I'm gonna try migratory covers shimmed up to provide an upper entrance. Don't know yet if I'll have a lower vent hole.

Hawk

[Sundance]

I'm doing that route as well Hawk. Seems to work fine. Especially this winter as the snow blocked lower entrance.

Here a lower vent hole makes sense for condensation abatement.

Tims cover looks fantastic and should be excellent in the south.

[Ross]

I built vented top boxes for my hives 2 years ago. They work, but I got tired of building empty boxes. Last year I just shimmed the migratory tops. That seemed to work just as well, based on bearding. The vented top boxes are now swarm boxes.

[Ben Brewcat]

Robbing's been an issue here... any concerns with robbing through the large entrance on top? Or do folks shim open the migratories only a bit?

[Todd Zeiner]

If the hive is weak then I would think robbing might be an issue with the upper entrance, especially if you happen to be feeding. I only use mine during the hot parts of the summer. Some of mine don't have the upper ent hole. They work too.

[Ross]

You can use a popcicle stick and get ventilation. There shouldn't be any robbing issues. Or close the bottom entrance all together and just use a top entrance. Over a SBB, this works well. As MB says, all things work if you let them.

[wfarler]

SBB's ended my bearding issues. I was just thinking an insulated top cover might deflect some of the heat as well.

I shim with a twig - just enough to provide a top exit on one end, never seems to result in robbing - or maybe they are too busy attacking the lower entrance. smile.gif