Thermosolar Hive

[George007]

What do you think about this?   
https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/thermosolar-hive-healthy-bees-healthy-honey--5#/

[Dmrauch]

Thank you for sharing the link.  I know nothing about whether it would work or not but like seeing the newest gadgets.

[bwallace23350]

It looks promising.

[Hops Brewster]

I'd need a lot more info on it before spending that kind of dough. 

[mtnb]

Haven't the germans been playing around with super heating the hive to destroy varroa. Like a sauna situation? I guess you'd do this without honey supers on. That honey could not be considered "raw" anymore. Idk, too much "stuff" for me. lol I wanna keep it simple. lol

[BeeMaster2]

I used to keep the screen top boards on my hives wide open during the late spring and summer and early fall, This spring I decided to try leaving the insulation boards on. So far it has been working just fine and I think the extra heat may bee helping the bees not hurting them. I am definitely going to keep them on now.
Jim

[OldMech]

I have read that in places with higher temps and humidity that the Varroa did not breed as prolifically. I can only guess that this type hive is trying to capitalize on that. However...   I do not think that I will be monitoring temps and covering/uncovering windows on 150+ hives, so this will have to remain for those with fewer hives or more time than I have.

[Michael Bush]

Looks like a solar wax melter to me...

[KeyLargoBees]

I hear they may be partnering with Flow and direct marketing to those beekeepers who bought into the Flow craze :-)

[mtnb]

Hahaha is that a joke? lol It should be if it isn't. lol Now, after reading that article in Bee Culture about HMFs, it makes you wonder how good this really is. Maybe great for getting rid of mites, but what are the side effects? Here's the article I mean... http://www.beeculture.com/a-closer-look-feeding-sugar-syruphmi/   all news to me

[little john]

Just want to comment that there's a world of difference between so-called 'scientific' findings regarding toxic compounds and the reality outside of a laboratory.

One such compound is Pectin - there's a couple of papers on The Web which unequivocally state that it is a toxic substance when fed to honeybees - which I find very curious, as anyone with basic biological knowledge knows full well that one of the coats surrounding a pollen grain IS Pectin - and bees seem to survive pretty well when scoffing pollen.

So - I emailed the local supermarket, asking them to contact their suppliers of Lemon Curd and enquire what percentage of Pectin is included in that product.  Armed with that information, I began feeding Lemon Curd (exclusively) to a spare colony in the Autumn, instead of heavy syrup.

Guess what ?  They came through winter in the same healthy shape as all my other colonies.

LJ

[KeyLargoBees]

Yes that was a joke Yvonne but I bet it would be a huge success.....as PT Barnum said...."there's a sucker born every minute" :-)

[PhilK]

I don't really understand the jabs that people seem to like to deliver to new ideas - a perfect example of this is Flow hives. It seems a lot of traditional beekeepers are really quite snide about Flow Hives. This may be a reluctance to go away from traditional beekeeping methods that have been in place for hundreds of years and embrace change. Flow hives are an amazing invention that certainly don't suit everybody, but I can see no way in which they are detrimental to the hobby OR industry, and plenty of ways in which they are beneficial.

Same goes for this Thermosolar Hive. If there is established evidence that increased temperatures can help control mites then this hive makes perfect sense to me, and more power to the people who have thought of marketing it! Again, it won't be suitable to everyone (large numbers of hives will probably not be feasible) but if it works for anybody, then it's worth it!

[Michael Bush]

> If there is established evidence that increased temperatures can help control mites then this hive makes perfect sense to me...

Bees control the temperature in the hive within +- a degree or so.  93 F (34 C) is the temperature in the brood nest all the time unless the bees lose control of it.  If they lose control of it and it stays at 95 F (35 C) a lot of brood dies.  if they lose control for very long and it falls to 91 (33 C) they often get chalk brood.  How does wresting control of the temperature of the brood nest from the bees, who are constantly adjusting it, make any sense?  They will spend their energy trying to fix it and if you take it far enough out of their control they will expend a huge amount of energy to try to fix it and they will fail...  Certainly something like putting them in the sun can help because it drives off moisture and seems to help with health, but it still allows the bees to fix it.

Trying to solve Varroa problems is trying to solve a problem I don't have... and in this case by causing another problem I don't want... overheated brood.

[Acebird]

Before reading the website I thought they meant to kill the brood as a method of getting the 100% kill ratio.  116 degrees is not enough to melt wax.  How hot does it get in a warm room for extraction?

[BeeMaster2]

Before reading the website I thought they meant to kill the brood as a method of getting the 100% kill ratio.  116 degrees is not enough to melt wax.  How hot does it get in a warm room for extraction?

Brian,
116 degrees won't melt  was but it will make it very soft. If you have brand new foundation less wax, it will drop.
I never worked in heated extraction room but I would be surprised if it was over 100 degrees.
Jim

[Acebird]

Jim, they might use plastic foundation.  I don't know, I am not that interested.  The operation I saw you don't extract in a hot room.  You warm the supers and then take them out and extract them in another room.  I am not sure what the room was elevated to.

[Jim134]

Brian,
116 degrees won't melt  was but it will make it very soft. If you have brand new foundation less wax, it will drop.
I never worked in heated extraction room but I would be surprised if it was over 100 degrees.
Jim

       I do know Charles Mraz Sr. Middlebury Vermont (deceased)

       He was a big believer in having honey extraction rooms / honey supers to 100F or so. His reasoning was you get more honey out of a comb.and extract much easier and much faster. I know every time I heard him say this he was running an average 700-1000 hives




                           BEE  HAPPY Jim 134  😃

[Jim134]

> If there is established evidence that increased temperatures can help control mites then this hive makes perfect sense to me...

Bees control the temperature in the hive within +- a degree or so.  93 F (34 C) is the temperature in the brood nest all the time unless the bees lose control of it.  If they lose control of it and it stays at 95 F (35 C) a lot of brood dies.  if they lose control for very long and it falls to 91 (33 C) they often get chalk brood.  How does wresting control of the temperature of the brood nest from the bees, who are constantly adjusting it, make any sense?  They will spend their energy trying to fix it and if you take it far enough out of their control they will expend a huge amount of energy to try to fix it and they will fail...  Certainly something like putting them in the sun can help because it drives off moisture and seems to help with health, but it still allows the bees to fix it.

Trying to solve Varroa problems is trying to solve a problem I don't have... and in this case by causing another problem I don't want... overheated brood

            I wonder if anybody has done studies on mortality rate of brood vs. temperature.


           BEE HAPPY Jim 134 

[Eric Bosworth]

Looks like a solar wax melter to me...

That was my exact reaction. Then I started reading the rest of the posts... you beat me to it... I could see the benefits in the winter but I don't see how it will cook the mites without cooking the bees.