new to bee keeping

[neal/cheryl]

HI
I am Very new to bee keeping.
I am trying to read every thing that I can, I was surfing around and came across a inner cover called BEE COOL that has a small pancake fan (that runs on solar or ac power) for extra ventilation .
Dose this work well? If so, dose anyone know the best temp for a hive? How hot is to hot or the cfm of the fan. The reason I ask, I have access to a lot of the parts that I would need to build one of these. it also claims to keep moisture levels down
Thanks
Neal

[HVH]

Welcome to the sport. IMHO, save your money. It's like that with every hobby - you need about 5% of the stuff in a catalog and the rest are gadgets that will end up in the garage sale pile. The bees will regulate the hive temp pretty well. If the hive gets hot enough to get a beard of bees hanging onto the outside of the hive you can lift the top and wedge a stick or rock in to allow circulation, or stagger the boxes a little to allow air circulation. I live in the high desert of Reno, NV where summer temps are around 100F. I like to use Snelgrove boards for added air movement. You can locate your hives away from direct sunlight and paint your hives white to reduce absorption. The bees need a nearby source of water also.

[BigDaddyDS]

The bees keep their hive right around 92 to 94-degrees Fahrenheit, and form a cluster (a ball of bees surrounding the queen) in the winter that stays around that temperature also. In the summertime, they'll try to regulate the hive to that temperature also, by using water and the evaporative effect, and by "fanning" at the entrances to push more air through the hive to aid in cooling. As you pointed out, air movement DOES reduce moisture.

So, does the Bee Cool work? Perhaps, in some applications. But as an absolute beginner, I recommend setting a "baseline" with a few hives so you know what "normal" behavior, like bearding in the summertime, is. After you know what the bees do, THEN you can branch off and start experimenting with external fans and coolers. Perhaps you'll find that fans cool your hive too much and limit the amount of, say, wax that the bees can produce. But, until you have a baseline or control, experimentation produces only assumptions and not results.

Gather up the parts you'll need, and put them into a well labeled box. Next winter, pull out the box and start building your fans then, if you still think it's a good or necessary idea. You'll be busy enough just trying to stay ahead of your bees this year without having to worry about data collection from science projects. :)

BDDS

[indypartridge]

As HVH noted, when it gets really hot, many of us just prop open the top with small stick. It works well and you can't beat the price.

[Michael Palmer]

I am trying to read every thing that I can, I was surfing around and came across a inner cover called BEE COOL that has a small pancake fan (that runs on solar or ac power) for extra ventilation .
Dose this work well?

So, after eons of time, the bees don't know how to properly ventilate their hives, and control the temperature? The inventors of air conditioning have got it wrong?

At $125 or more for the Bee Cool unit, to make what...do they claim...50% more honey?...why not put another colony online, and make 100% more? Wouldn't another colony be way more fun than fiddling with some expensive contraption?

[Ross]

If you have a heat issue, as we do here in Texas, simply prop the top cover to allow the heat to escape out the top. It works very well.

[Michael Bush]

>I am trying to read every thing that I can, I was surfing around and came across a inner cover called BEE COOL that has a small pancake fan (that runs on solar or ac power) for extra ventilation .
Dose this work well? If so, dose anyone know the best temp for a hive?

The normal temperature in the hive is 93 F.

http://www.bushfarms.com/beesfaqs.htm#electricfan
http://www.bushfarms.com/beeslazy.htm#stopfightingbees