I just winterized my hive last week and wanted to share what I have done and the records that I have kept so far, my interest was to see what the temperature readings were outside and inside the hive and how these effect condensation. I also wanted to see at what temperature the bees kept the inside of the hive and how that temperature is affected by what I do in winterizing it so as to give them the best of care throughout the winter. If the bees are too cold then they cannot move to new stores and they will starve, too warm would not be good either.
So to begin, the bees are clustered in the lower box of my two box deep hive and both boxes have stores with the top box being completely filled. I placed a queen excluder on the top box, then I placed a 2" high shim on top of the excluder with window screening stapled to the bottom, the shim has a 1/2" hole drilled through the front into the cedar chips that I placed inside. I then wrapped the hive in a very thin insulation wrap of fiber and plastic film less than 1/8" thick, then wrapped it with 15# felt paper. the insulation is thin enough to let the solar gain from the felt into the hive and help keep the hive insulated as well. then I placed a 1/2" thin plastic tube in through the vent hole to keep it open. On top of the shim I placed a plexiglass inner cover to see if any condensation accumulates and then placed a small piece of cardboard over the oval hole and a 1" dial thermometer with a 5" probe reaching down through the card board, cedar chips, and screening, it reaches 3" down in between the top two center frames to read internal temperatures. On top of all of this is 1/2" of sheeting foam for top insulation then the outer cover.
If anyone finds this helpful and wants to add to it then please do and we will all learn from the additional data. The pictures and data so far is as follows, and thanks.....Bill
The winterized hive
Close up of vent hole tube
Close up of thermometer and plexiglass inner cover
10/23/11 9:00am
34 deg outside temp
64 deg inside hive temp
sunshine on hive
condensation in vent
no condensation in hive
no entrance activity
10/23/11 12:00 noon
54 deg outside temp
69 deg inside hive temp
sunshine on hive
condensation in vent
no condensation in hive
entrance activity
10/23/11 4:00 pm
58 deg outside temp
70 deg inside hive temp
sunshine on hive
no condensation in vent
no condensation in hive
entrance activity
10/27/11 6:00 pm
45 deg outside temp
64 deg inside hive temp
no sunshine on hive
condensation in vent
no condensation in hive
no entrance activity
10/28/11 8:00 am
31 deg outside temp
60 deg inside hive temp
no sunshine on hive
condensation in vent
no condensation in hive
no entrance activity
10/28/11 12:00 noon
40 deg outside temp
60 deg inside hive temp
no sunshine on hive
condensation in vent
no condensation in hive
no entrance activity
So to begin, the bees are clustered in the lower box of my two box deep hive and both boxes have stores with the top box being completely filled. I placed a queen excluder on the top box, then I placed a 2" high shim on top of the excluder with window screening stapled to the bottom, the shim has a 1/2" hole drilled through the front into the cedar chips that I placed inside. I then wrapped the hive in a very thin insulation wrap of fiber and plastic film less than 1/8" thick, then wrapped it with 15# felt paper. the insulation is thin enough to let the solar gain from the felt into the hive and help keep the hive insulated as well. then I placed a 1/2" thin plastic tube in through the vent hole to keep it open. On top of the shim I placed a plexiglass inner cover to see if any condensation accumulates and then placed a small piece of cardboard over the oval hole and a 1" dial thermometer with a 5" probe reaching down through the card board, cedar chips, and screening, it reaches 3" down in between the top two center frames to read internal temperatures. On top of all of this is 1/2" of sheeting foam for top insulation then the outer cover.
If anyone finds this helpful and wants to add to it then please do and we will all learn from the additional data. The pictures and data so far is as follows, and thanks.....Bill
The winterized hive
Close up of vent hole tube
Close up of thermometer and plexiglass inner cover
10/23/11 9:00am
34 deg outside temp
64 deg inside hive temp
sunshine on hive
condensation in vent
no condensation in hive
no entrance activity
10/23/11 12:00 noon
54 deg outside temp
69 deg inside hive temp
sunshine on hive
condensation in vent
no condensation in hive
entrance activity
10/23/11 4:00 pm
58 deg outside temp
70 deg inside hive temp
sunshine on hive
no condensation in vent
no condensation in hive
entrance activity
10/27/11 6:00 pm
45 deg outside temp
64 deg inside hive temp
no sunshine on hive
condensation in vent
no condensation in hive
no entrance activity
10/28/11 8:00 am
31 deg outside temp
60 deg inside hive temp
no sunshine on hive
condensation in vent
no condensation in hive
no entrance activity
10/28/11 12:00 noon
40 deg outside temp
60 deg inside hive temp
no sunshine on hive
condensation in vent
no condensation in hive
no entrance activity