SBB and Winter

[Sean Kelly]

Now that winter is approaching, I'm getting nervous about using my screened bottom boards.  Should I take them off and replace it with a solid bottom board?  Will they be able to keep warm enough with the screened one on?  Should I put the plastic tray in during the winter?  I understand ventilation is the key to prevent freezing, but I'm afraid a good wind will kick up and chill them.  Maybe I'm just paranoid.  Thoughts?

Sean Kelly

[Michael Bush]

My guess is it really won't matter where you are, but you can cut cardboard to fit under them.  I close mine, but I'm guessing it's much colder here, unless you're up in the mountains or in far Eastern Washington.  Mine are all from Brushy Mt and came with a plastic cardboard tray.

[Kathyp]

close it up.  i put in the bottom board, put the entrance reducer on the small hole, and last year even lined the top lid with roofing paper because the wind was blowing the rain up and under.

someone else made the point, and it makes sense, that in nature the hive will often have only a small hole to come and go.  the rest of the hive will be totally closed.  as long as there is no water leaking in, they should be fine.

[tillie]

Check with your local beeks....here in Georgia there's no need to close them up and everyone I know keeps them open (the SBB) all winter long.

Linda T in the beautiful N Ga Mtns

[Sean Kelly]

My guess is it really won't matter where you are, but you can cut cardboard to fit under them.  I close mine, but I'm guessing it's much colder here, unless you're up in the mountains or in far Eastern Washington.  Mine are all from Brushy Mt and came with a plastic cardboard tray.

Michael, I use the same SBB's from Brushy Mountain.  I am in the mountains but on the west side.  The clouds roll up to the edge where we live and create a warm zone.  In the winter it usually stays in the 40's to 50's during the day and sometimes dips down into the 30's at night.  But last winter it did drop down into the teens.  Almost never snows, just rains alot.  Anyways, awesome!   When should I put the plastic cardboard trays back in?  I have them on right now with sticky boards to check mite fall.

Thanks again guys!

Sean Kelly

[twb]

Mine came with metal varroa trays.  Is that going to be enough to close them or better to add a thin peice of rubber or something with it?  I have thin rubber mats easily available and can cut them to size.

[annette]

You seem to have the same type of winter that I do Sean. I kept my SBB open all last winter and the bees did fine. They did though need even more ventilation and this year I have provided an upper entrance as well.

"It is not the cold that kills bees, it is the moisture." (This was a quote from a beekeeper named Jerry Hayes who writes a column - he lives in Florida). 

You have a mild winter like we do. We do get down into the 20-30 at night in December and January Daytimes could be 45-50.

It is a hard decision, but provide some ventilation on the top for them, and then you can close up the bottom if you want. I worry more about moisture because the hive got so mildewed last winter.

Annette

[Michael Bush]

>In the winter it usually stays in the 40's to 50's during the day and sometimes dips down into the 30's at night.  But last winter it did drop down into the teens.

I would just leave them open.

[Brian D. Bray]

Leave em open Sean, I do.  I also use top entrances so the hive remains ventilated all year.  No condensation to worry about.

[tillie]

As I understand it, the bees cluster and keep the cluster warm - they are not keeping the hive warm....sort of like penguins in the polar regions - circling and gathering and using body heat and wing power to warm each other...so if the SBB is open or closed, the bees will still be keeping the cluster warm.

Now if you had colder winters, maybe it would make a difference but your winters don't sound severe.

Linda T in Atlanta

[mark]

i'm in planting zone 6 and never close the screen. i give the hives a top entrance cut into a 2" thick polystyrene insulation board in place of the inner cover and wrap with tar paper down to the ground as a wind break leaving the bottom entrance open as well.  the hives are at least 10" up off the ground. 

[Understudy]

In your area you can leave them open.

Sincerely,
Brendhan

[indypartridge]

The clouds roll up to the edge where we live and create a warm zone.  In the winter it usually stays in the 40's to 50's during the day and sometimes dips down into the 30's at night.  But last winter it did drop down into the teens. 

With those temps, here's another vote for leaving them open. I leave mine open and temps in my area stay below freezing for weeks at a time.

[KONASDAD]

I left one open and one closed this past winter. I had about 15 consecutive days of daytime temps of less than 20F and nite time of single digits. This was immediately preceded by daytime temps in the low sixties. Lots of drastic changes. No prob w/ leaving it open.

[Sean Kelly]

Ok, lol.  I guess I'm leaving mine open then.  :)

As for ventilation, what's the best approach?  I've heard some people drill holes on the top box.  My inner cover on hive #2 is from Brushy Mountain and has a notch cut out of the side, I'm assuming for ventilation.  Should I just buy another inner cover like this one for hive #1 or do you guys have other suggestions?

Thanks again!

Sean Kelly

[Michael Bush]

I hate having holes in my boxes.  I'd use the notched inner cover.  You can widen the notch if you like.

[Brian D. Bray]

With top entrances you don't need holes or a notch and does a better job of venting moisture.

[TwT]

I live in Ga, you can leave them open if you want, but I tried a experiment for myself to see what would happen, the hives I closed up went gang busters faster in the spring that the open SBB hive, makes since the hive is warmer..... shoot the only advantage I have seen with my hives is hive stays cooler in the summer, I haven't had mite problems with these bee's, matter of fact, my hives do the same compared to SBB when using a BB with a slatted rack, the only difference I seen this year was BB hive with no slatted rack, they beard more, I have gone to a pollinators BB that has opening on both side's (front and back) the openings are only about 6 inches but works fine just like a BB with a slatted rack when it come to bearding....

[sc-bee]

As stated above:

>"It is not the cold that kills bees, it is the moisture." (This was a quote from a beekeeper named Jerry Hayes who writes a column - he lives in Florida). 

No need to close them with the temps you stated.