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Winter Insulation of Hives?

8K views 15 replies 10 participants last post by  jmgi 
#1 ·
I'm getting ready to winterize the hives ,Western Montana, and have a question. I'm thinking of not using the wood top and instead using the 2" foam board I'll use for the sides. Maybe router a slot for ventilation and bees. Any ideas or suggestions? Thanks for any help, PK.
 
#4 ·
Using the foam board on top is a good idea, except I would use it over top of my inner cover. Put the hole or notch for ventilation on the bottom rim of the inner cover instead. Mike Palmer tapes his center inner cover hole shut, that way the bees can't contact the foam at all. I think using foam on the sides of the hive is fine, but I would not use it on the south side which gets the most winter sun. Last year I used foam on three sides and felt paper stapled on the south side. John
 
#5 ·
I'm getting ready to winterize the hives ,Western Montana, and have a question. I'm thinking of not using the wood top and instead using the 2" foam board I'll use for the sides. Maybe router a slot for ventilation and bees. Any ideas or suggestions?.
Suggestions:

Your telescoping cover top surface should be sheet metal not bare wood. Use a piece of 1" Dow styrofoam insulation inside the telescoping cover. Protect it from chewing with a piece of "coroplast" (political lawn sign material - readily available lately) laminated to the side facing the bees. Use it year 'round. If snow melts almost immediately from the top, you are not properly insulated. The same thing is happening to condensation inside.

Is there little or no honey in the outboard frames of the top box? Replace the frames with styrofoam/coroplast cut to the same size as the inside wall of the box.

Want to be really well insulated? Use straps from strapworks.com to hold styrofoam around the outside of the top box.

Get an indoor/outdoor thermometer - put the outdoor sensor down thru the hole in the inner cover and look for temps at least 50 degrees higher than the outside temperature. Less than that in winter? Trouble. 95+ should be max winter and summer. Trouble.

Don't even think about screened bottom boards.

You want a small opening in the bottom and a small opening - a cut in the bottom half of your inner cover - for top ventilation.

If you hear the idea that "bees heat the cluster, not the box so don't bother to insulate," smile and ignore.
 
#11 ·
I use a 3" spacer with dry sugar for moisture control and emergency feed. The spacer has a 3/8" vent
hole. Across the fees spacer I staple 4 mil poly film to protect a top made from 2" thick expanded polystyrene foam board. The hive is wrapped with black roofing felt for Draft protection and thermal gain on bright sunny days.

Over the years, I have tried several winter setups and this has proven to work well here. My emergency sugar rarely gets used but ends up getting fed as 1:1 syrup in early spring. I simply sleep better knowing they have a Plan B.
 
#12 ·
John, Ian, I agree with your statements, because during a long cold spell the bees could starve to death if the there was not enough heat inside the hive for them to move to capped honey. Each spring we see posts on here about dead hives and honey within 1" of the cluster, some added insulation is often wise in northern states. Yes heat can be preserved and we all must winterize to suit weather conditions where we live if our bees are to survive the winter.

If the hive has plenty of honey then I place these items on the hives in this order, and if stores are low the I omit # 1 and 2 and place sugar on a piece of newspaper directly on the frames.

1. queen excluder
2. # 8 mesh screen
3. 2 1/2" shim with 1/2" vent hole
4. Fill shim with cedar wood chips
5. inner cover
6. 3/4" foam insulation
7. outer teli cover
8. felt wrap the hive
 
#14 ·
#15 ·
I started using a simple idea I learned from an old beek who has passed long ago. set a empty shallow shell on top of the inner cover and fill with a leaf of straw w/ lid on top. the straw absorbs excess moisture and provides some insulation factor. I simply wrap with tarpaper, for some solar gain on sunny 0 degree days, and have great over winter sucess in NW lower Michigan. Just be sure there is good air ventalation thru the top, and don't forget to feed the mice
 
#16 ·
I have about a dozen double high medium 5 frame nucs that I am trying to decide on how to winter, that's my biggest concern right now, I don't worry so much about the full size hives because they have sizable clusters, but I feel the nucs need some insulation help to get those smaller clusters through the winter ok. John
 
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