Ventilation

[Grid]

New beekeeper here.

Googling, it seems like if you want three opinions on bee hive ventilation, ask two beekeepers... :scratch:

At any rate, my original plan was to have an insulated outer cover, an inner cover without a hole, and leave the screened bottom board open year round. I am in Eastern Ontario, and I am now re-thinking the open SBBs. Apparently open SBBs cool the lower part of the brood chamber, increasing hatching time, increasing varroa problems. :doh:

So what to do to ventilate and keep rain/snow out but not leave too large of an opening at the top of the hive? How much ventilation is too liitle/much, and at what times of year? It seems like the hive is going to get very hot and humid inside if I don't open it up some how.

Thanks!
Grid.

[tecumseh]

some years back there was a canadian engineer who developed a telescoping top with a vent activated by a thermocoupled to allow venting when necessary and to close it off when temperatures dropped.

never saw one in operation but it sounded like an excellent idea.

[KQ6AR]

I know a lot of people in cold country, prop the top open with a popsicle stick in the winter.
They want any moisture/condensation to escape. It will rain down on the bees & freeze them.

[justin]

i dont have sbb's. my winter plan is to shim the inner cover in front on both sides to allow moisture and air flow there and run condesation to the back of the hive rather than have it drip on the cluster.my entrance reducers leave a 5" x 5/16s or so gap. of coarse that is winter venting, summer i leave it to them.

[Grid]

Thanks all. Just wanting to get a feel for what different people do, as I have no frame of reference yet.

Cheers.
Grid

[wildbranch2007]

two screws between inner and outer cover, they propolis in place if you need to remove just put on top of inner cover, I leave mine on year round, only reomove if feeding or robbing.

mike

[habutti]

Proper ventilation is important, more so in winter. Some of my hives are on solid bottom boards, but all hives that are 2 or 3 deep high in the upper boxes have entrance/exit drilled holes about an inch in diameter this in addition to the notched inner covers. Instead of wrapping I have an foam insulation sleve that I put over the hive with the matching hole. In winter it looks like a chimney when you see all the condensation leaving the hive through the upper entrance/exit hole.

[Eaglerock]

All of my hives wintered well. All I used were entrance reducer through the winter mode, and I have solid BB's.

[bnatural]

All my hives have SBB, but they also have debris boards underneath that I'm sure cut the draft a bit. All hives also have slatted racks over the SBB, which raise the brood up off the floor. All hives have vent boxes over the inner covers, and in the winter I use shims with top entrances over the top deep (I run three deeps) and under the inner cover. Never wrap or insulate. Ventilation has not been a problem. All hives survived this past winter.

Bill