My two wintering hives

[Rodni73]

http://img94.imageshack.us/gal.php?g=038vy.jpg

My wife wraped my two beehives in black insulation foam then wraped them with bleu tarps that she bought from a department store.
We just had a huge snow storm and the above link is a picture of what she did.

My bees were started from two nucs of local Jersey Bees.

I hope they will make it and yours too.

-Rodni

[iddee]

I hope she left an upper entrance/ventilation slot. If not, they are not likely to make it. They produce heat and moisture. The moisture has to be expelled. If not, BIG TROUBLE.

[Beaver Dam]

Not sure if I would have used the plastic. A good wind break maybe. Enclose in a plywood box with several inches of breath space and a top. Just my humble opinion. Plastic will let no moister out. Sunny days take top off.

[iddee]

>>>>Sunny days take top off.<<<<

I hope you mean top insulation, and not hive top.  :shock:

Even warm days in New Jersey winters aren't warm.

[Hemlock]

In NJ I imagine you'll not see a fly day until March.  Yet it might be a good idea to leave the entrance (top or bottom) open & reduced.  I can't tell from the photo if the entrance was covered or not. 

I agree with the others that a hive must be ventilated; and vented from the top.  Top entrances, notch type, achieve this.  Also, some use a vent box between the inner cover & the telescoping cover.  They allow the VERY humid bee breath to escape.  Otherwise it forms condensation in the hive that drips down through the cluster and can kill the colony in a hurry by chilling. 

I have a question.  Do the other beeks in your area insulate their hives as well?  If they do not you might want to ask them 'Why not'.  If they do then carry on.

Good luck

[Beaver Dam]

Yea, I mean that you have a wood box built a few inches wider and taller than the size of the hive. It has a lid. You can remove it on sunny days to alow heat waves to penetrate hive. Great insulator and wind break.

[iddee]

Thanks for the explanation. I didn't quite know what you meant. That does sound like a workable idea for a small number of hives.

[Rodni73]

Thank you for the advice!

1-No there is no top entrance and she did not slightly raise or open the telescopic cover to allow the moister to escape!
2-However, the mouse guard metal entrance reducer has 6 open holes.

In simple terms my wife is stating that if the bees need an openning on top to release the moister why would they propolice every opening at the top before winter?  She also sated that that the hot air will rise in the hive like a mushroom then go down the side to the bottom and cool down.  I understand what u are trying to say... but she wont budge and refuses to unwrap and leave a top opening! I guess we will wait and see...

-Rodni     

[BeeHopper]

Good Luck with that.



:'(

[Rodni73]

Got home from work.... Wife is xmass shoping.  Went to the yard and studied how she wraped the two hives.
Unwraped the hive opened telescopic cover about 2" and placed a wood ship on the innercover to keep the telescopic cover up and slightly elevated.  Wrapped the hives the same way she did them and made a slit right in front of the elevated top cover the size of my middle finger on both.  this can serve as a top entrance and a ventalation hole.

;)

[Lone]

Your secret is safe with us  ;)

[Rodni73]

Hi all

Both hives are alive and well. One of them "the stronger one" is using the top entrance hole for cleansing flights.  On a sunny day the tarp and foam around the hive warms up the hive enough so bees break cluster even though temperature is in mid 30's or 40's outside.  They congregate on the inner wood cover up top and they feed on dry sugar I placed there.  I fed both hives from late August to middle November and did not touch their stores at all. I hope they will make it because now both hives are ventilated and protected from wind. By the way, wify discovered what I did... She just shook her head and gave me very dirty looks but agreed to leave them alone!

Hope they make it and yours too.

-Rodni

[iddee]

I think the bees have a better chance now. I don't know about Rodni. Hope the frying pan isn't dented too badly.  :-P

[Michael Bush]

Sealing in moisture is, in my experience, the worse thing you can do to a hive, and any kind of wrapping seems to contribute to that.  Some kinds done well are less bad than others...

http://www.bushfarms.com/beeswinter.htm#Wrapping
http://www.bushfarms.com/beeslazy.htm#stopwrapping

[Bellavista2]

Michael very nice articles they answer several questions I had. I was wondering about insulation on top of the hive That's simple enough. I also wondered about putting the hives in the greenhouse, guess i won't do that the bees need to stay cool so they have a longer lifespan. Anyone know how long they live in the winter verses warm weather? I'm sure this is a simple dumb question but does the Queen continue laying throughout the winter at all?   That's interesting different breeds have different cluster sizes From baseball size to soccer ball size Wow. Also I Don't  feel guilty about not getting around to painting some of the equipment now.

[Michael Bush]

>Anyone know how long they live in the winter verses warm weather?

Six months versus six weeks.

> I'm sure this is a simple dumb question but does the Queen continue laying throughout the winter at all?   

She will lay whenever they encourage her to by feeding her the right stuff.  The will generally raise a little patch of brood after the winter solstice and then take a break and then another little batch of brood and a break and by then it may be spring where you are and they may start in earnest.

[Bellavista2]

Thank you Michael  Wow that's quite difference in the life span, amazing critters. Also glad to hear the queen does lay a few eggs.