over wintering with an (almost) open bottom

[beecanbee]

I have a mellifera hive, without a bottom board that sits on top of a square concrete tube, about 14 inches high.  The concrete is buried a couple of inches to create a seal (no air nor vermin) into the ground, and the brood box is sealed (no air) to the concrete by an adapter ring made of 2x4s.  This arrangement is essentially an open bottom, but with the added protection against predators from the concrete walls of the tube, allowing for mite and crud drop, and it eliminates the need for any cleaning. Whatever drops to earth is eventually rendered by nature.

Our winters are mild – with occasional early morning ice, but thawed by noon; no snow, no hard freezes. I am thinking of leaving it this way over the winter.  Any concerns or recommendations?

(As an aside – our vermin include hornets, wild boar, raccoons, skunks, monkeys, and hedge hogs.)

[indypartridge]

I have screened bottom boards that I leave open all winter. Where I live, we have below freezing temperatures for weeks at a time, and usually at least one bitter cold snap of subzero temps (Farenheit) of a couple weeks. No problem.

[Ross]

I recommend you provide some top ventilation to help vent moisture.  With it sealed to the ground like that, it will need it.

[Bee-Bop]

If I may;
I would appreciate a little information about this seal stand.

Does not your  open hive bottom permit a number of items to drop to the bottom, bee droppings, dead Bees, honey, wax cappings, mites, etc .
Concrete draws moisture from the ground, wouldn't this be a moist fermenting mass with no air flow ?

Just wondering, not condeming.

Oh, I close my bottom boards up, I think it helps the bees to maintain their normal hive temperature to a degree.
I have seen several bee tree hives and all were attached to the tree trunk, not hanging with a open bottom , suspended in the air by that great sky hook in the air.

Every one has different methods and ideas, and if they work Great !

Good luck in your decision.
Bee-Bop

[annette]

Some winters I have kept the SBB totally open and they were fine.  Some winters I have closed up the SBB and they were fine.  So now I usually keep them open until it gets super, super cold or we have a very windy rain storm and then I close them up. I still can't decide after 4 years what is the better way to go.

[beecanbee]

Thanks for the feedback and suggestions – I believe that I will replace the bottom board and just let it sit atop the concrete tube over winter, and then open it up again come spring.

I do ventilate my lids – but they tend to propolize it up, thereby sealing it.

Without the bottom board, it is open to the ground – and thus does allow all debris – dead bees, mites, comb, cappings, wax moth larva, etc. – to drop to the ground.  This is the main purpose of the tube – to eliminate the need for cleaning, while preventing access from predators.  Or said differently, it solves the problem when a hive cannot be regularly inspected and cleaned, as in a log hive without removable frames - or one that is hidden out in the forest and cannot be regularly visited.  I do clean them out – but just once a year, generally when taking honey or moving the bees to a box hive.

The concrete tube itself is part of a system for rainwater drainage around homes - and is the cleanout box to which various drain pipes connect.

This hive was a log that was set up for cerana, but was invaded by mellifera.  It took quite a bit of work to migrate them to a box and remove the log, but since I did not want to relocate them – I just put the box hive on top of the concrete base that had supported the log.