Beesource Beekeeping Forums banner

Indoor wintering in northern climates on a commercial scale

15K views 38 replies 16 participants last post by  Ian 
#1 ·
I read about indoor wintering on a commercial scale in "The Hive and the Honey Bee". According to the book, this is a common practice in Canada. Does anyone here have any experience with large scale indoor wintering? I currently migrate my hives to the south for the winter, but this is getting more expensive each year. It seems to me that a building to winter in would "pay for itself" in just a few years in transportation costs savings alone. Being in central Wisconsin, the concept seems to have merit. I realize most going south are also sending their bees to California for almonds. I'm looking to winter the bees here in Wisconsin, and forgo going to California. The idea of getting sprayed in California, like others I know, or spreading pests and diseases to my hives outweigh the dollars. We are a growing business looking to grow to the 1000 hive mark. Outdoor wintering, and the annual mortality rates associated with it are not acceptable to me. Thanks for any input you may have.

Wisnewbee
 
#33 ·
Sounds like you are on the right track Wisnewbee. I don't have indoor wintering experience. It's not cold enough here, think Seattle like weather. However I grew upin Manitoba and I understand cold. I'm not sure that a depth of 1 m for your air intake pipes is enough.
Seems to me the ground can freeze deeper. Just depends if you get the harsh cold first (greater depth of frost) followed by an insulating layer of snow. Or do you get snow first , followed by the harsh cold resulting in ground frost not being as deep. Others could comment on this. It would be a shame to have a good building instead of a top notch building for an extra couple hours of machine time. The Devil is in the details.

Jean-Marc
 
#34 ·
Fine minds think alike jean-marc. I was just thinking about that, the past couple of days. I'm not sure what depth I'll need to put the air intake pipes at. We want it at a depth that it "warms" the air during the really cold months, but also "cools" the air as the outside temps increase in spring. I'm checking with my Ag extension service to see if they have any current data about soil temperature at various depths. I could always do it the old passioned way and dig a couple holes at various depths and bury a temperature probe. I hope the extension service has the data.

Allen, it sounds like you're using 1 exhaust fan, and mutiple inlets. I was planning to do just the opposite. 1 inlet (very large ) and multiple exhaust fans. Each fan with a different trigger point; about 2 degrees apart. The inlet would be ducted (think big plastic tube) with 2-3 inch holes along it, that runs the length of the building. Even distribution of the incoming cool air is my goal. I think either approach should work. Do you think 1 system has advantages over the other?

Bill
Wisnewbee
 
#37 ·
Ian's point about multiple fans is a good one. I have a backup fan kicking around but having several fans is probably a better way to go.

My old system had a timer and a trigger temperature - I think I had it set for about 7 or 8 C. I've changed my mind on the usefulness of this in my new building, partially because has better insulation. I am also running the temperatures indoors warmer than I used to -- about 6 - 8 C. During very cold weather I run the fan very little, partially to keep the wintering room to get too cold, but also to keep the humidity from getting too low as cold prairie air is very dry. As the temperature nears the freezing mark, I run the fan continuously. On very warm days, I no longer run the exhaust fan during the day. During the night, the fan run continuously and I may open the doors to cool things down as much as possible. Then during the day, I turn the exhaust fan off when outdoors temperatures are warmer than indoor temperatures. For me this has been a more effective strategy for keeping temperatures down.

If drawing air through tubing in the ground cools the air substantially, then keeping the bees cool should not be an issue. I have considered this option as well, but it is not practical for me. The soil around my wintering shed is sand and gravel with very little moisture retained in it. Not much conductive heat exchange in dry soil. I do have floor piping in my building and buried discharge tube and have toyed with running well water through the piping. My well water is 9 C so this might be a good option for keeping the bees cool in spring.

As I have said before, in my opinion, the one of the more difficult aspects of indoor wintering is managing warm weather.

Ian, I'd say my hives are about average. Looked at the bees in the wintering room yesterday and most hives had nice clusters across the bottom of frames. More small hives than I would like to see though. Flowers being done so early and dry conditions were tough on the bees I think.
 
#39 ·
Do any of you indoor wintering guys manage the Relative Humidity inside the wintering shed through the winter? I never have, but notice Jan through Feb sure gets dry inside. Perhaps adding some water to the air would benefit the bees,.?

I also talked to a producer who suggested to me misting the hives with water during the warm spells will keep the bees in the box. This adds humidity to the air and the bees will stay inside their hives. Does anyone have any experience with this?
Caution though, not to over mist the hives to where water starts to run or drip down onto other hives, Nosema breakout!
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top