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Do SBB stay on year round?

3K views 9 replies 6 participants last post by  BILLY BOB 
#1 ·
Or are they replaced when it gets cold?
 
#2 ·
all 503 of my SBB have slide in panels for sticky board testing. The hives that are wintered over here (3) have the slider installed to cut down on the cold drafts. These hives seem to winter over good on our cold. The coldest is normally -10 degrees F at the most only for 2 weeks. We have between 2 and 24 inches of snow on the ground with much blowing wind and snow.
Clint

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Clinton Bemrose
just South of Lansing Michigan
 
#3 ·
Since MB is not here to say it;

Well, It depends...

On where you live. If you live down south you can leave them open all year around. I, we, being smack dab in... well you know, will install the tray and reduce the entrance to at least the four inch opening, and then maybe in the dead of winter, if it gets really cold, down to the smallest opening.

The tray in itself will add quite a bit of ventilation as it will provide a draft at both ends. It is such that the bees can not control the flow of air with propolis because it is under the screen.

But there are those even farther north, NY and PA, I think, that have good results keeping them open year round, but then they get more snow.

I do know when the snow piles up the bees are well insulated and the opening becomes less of an issue, cleansing flights the exception. Here where we get a lot of cold (-5 to -10) hard winds, and little snow, I would not want to risk it.

I am concerned about leaving the top entrance open with the SBB open at the same time, even when the tray is in place. I think that I will put a piece of masking tape on the top entrance and let the bees chew off as much as they want to control the opening size.

Chilly Willy
 
#5 ·
I don't know of anyone who takes them off. It's a question of closing them up. If yours aren't made to close up, and you want to, put some baling twine (anyone with horses has piles of it laying around) or some nylon string (something that resists rot) and staple it on the bottom in a "Z" formation. Then cut some cardbord or scrap plywood or whatever and slide it on top of the twine but under the bottom board and you've closed it up.


I have never wintered hives with them open. I don't know if I will or not this year.

I think last winter I could have, but some winters I think it would have been a bad idea.
 
#6 ·
Clint, You send 500 of your hives down south for the winter?
Answer:
Yes all on pallets 4 hives per pallet

What kind of stand do you keep your three remaining hives on? How much exposure do they allow to the air and wind?
Answer:
The hive stand I use here holds the hives 16 inches off the ground. It is all made from 2 X 4 stock painted and open on the bottom. The reason for the height is we have much trouble with skunks and other critters around here.

The complete hive stand is portable and can be moved with the hives or not. The hive stand is built long enough to place 2 hives side by side but I only place 1 hive on them so I can check these hives often and not have to place parts on the ground to lift them later on to the hive. Yes the hives are over 6 feet tall now with suppers.
Clint


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Clinton Bemrose
just South of Lansing Michigan
 
#9 ·
Greetings clintonbemrose,

Do you enclose your stands?

Answer:
No the hive stands are open on all sides and on the top. It looks like a stick frame that has not been filled in.
Clint

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Clinton Bemrose
just South of Lansing Michigan
 
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