sbb design

Closeing them or leaving them open is your choice there is a thread going on different designs now.

http://www.beesource.com/forums/showthread.php?t=243289

more important than open/close is a proper/effective WINDBREAK! good luck,mike

ok, well my hives all made it fine last year with just the trees as a wind break and wrapped in cozies. I am more worried aobut the heat that would go out the bottom on the cold days and night. maybe it doesn't really matter but it seems like it should to me.

honeyman46408 said:

Closeing them or leaving them open is your choice there is a thread going on different designs now.

http://www.beesource.com/forums/showthread.php?t=243289

Click to expand...

thanks, i'll follow that too. I am actually more interested in if it needs/should be closed up for the winter or not. If it doesn't then why go through the effort of making a drawer/door for the bottom, but if it does then i should.

I would think there would be HUGE heat lost out the bottom if not closed, but maybe they don't need that heat in the winter?

they dont heat the hive, only the immediate cluster. if you provide a proper/effective windbreak, they'll not be affected by well below zreo temps. mine make it through -10 snaps with open bottoms and full width top entrances. good luck,mike

"...why go through the effort of making a drawer/door for the bottom..."
to coat with oil/sticky and do mite drop counts. good luck,mike

we get the occasional -20F or -30 celcius snaps here sometimes lasting up to a week or more.

I knew they didn't heat the hive but i figured that some of the heat from them would warm the air around them some????

Wind is the only problem since heat rises. It is called convection. That is why hot air balloons hold air and some of the opinions about SBBs do not. If you read the threads on winter loses this year, most had condensation from poor ventilation that killed or seriously weakened the hive. The premise was bees need water in the winter and frost dumping on them in a thaw would be more of a relief than cause hypothermia and kill the hive. I started using a tray year round to drown Varroa and small hive beetles. So far it works better than the traps up in the frames.

i have no experience(thank you, thank you) with -20 temps for a week or more at a time but if you could guarrantee no drafts, i wouldnt be afraid to leave mine open. do you feel lucky? (couldnt resist )