To vent or not to vent?

[L Daxon]

One of our local beekeeps bought a role of aluminum insulation from Ace Hardware and runs it across the top and down the west side of his hives to reflect the afternoon sun.  Of course we have been over 100 degrees for about 40 days now.  It was 110 yesterday and no end in sight.

I've always offset my hives when it gets/got real hot in the summer.

[doug494]

First year for me but I went with a different philosophy.

On my ttbh hives I installed 2 in styro insulation above the bars and cut saw cuts in the give body near the top.

I figure if the bees are working on cooling through evaporation, the insulation will help, just like insulating an attic.

If they want ventilation, the have the saw cuts.

So far they have kept the saw cuts propolized shut.

Sent from my DROIDX using Tapatalk

[CapnChkn]

Ok, as promised, the photos.  As always, click on the image to go to Hi-Rez.

I've discovered the mylar is letting water underneath, which will hold it on the wood and over the steel.  I might just have a design problem, but when it rains, I will need to take them off and let them dry before putting them back on.



The tape is something I found here on the farm.  It's advertised as being able to hold in all kinds of conditions.  I wouldn't put it past freezing.  Once the adhesive gets hard it's basically useless.  Other tape is simply the water resistant duck tape.

Just keep in mind that when it's 114 F outside, the bees still need it 95 F inside.  How can they do that if you provide so much ventilation that they can't control the temperature?  You can have too much ventilation on a hot day.  Maybe not at 95F but anything over that you could.

Yessir!  As I said, the bees will have an easier time blowing cool air from below.  Are you talking about top ventilation?  With the screen over the inner cover hole, and the SBB, they were still bearding yesterday.  I have mine over concrete, which holds heat as well as reflecting it up.


As you can see, the beetles are just everywhere.  This is kind of like ignoring blowflies because they're everywhere, in everything, and what can you do about it?  They don't get in between the mylar and outer cover because they have the whole hive to mess with.


Cheezie product endorsement.  Yep, I eat this way.  The duck tape goes round the perimeter to give the plastic some extra strength, though if you've tried to open the bag, you already know it will either not tear, or go all at once.

The latest corners are folded under so the only thing showing is a line right at the corner.  Later versions may include some heating to weld the plastics together.  And now I'll have to sort out how to keep the rain from getting underneath.  You can get full sheets of mylar, those emergency blankets come to mind.  The main problem with them is they develop pin holes at the folds, and you can pick these bags up on the side of the road.

[derekm]

Beetles in roof? Iwould suspect leaks or condensation. The stains suggest condensation

[divemaster1963]

 You can get full sheets of Mylar, those emergency blankets come to mind. The main problem with them is they develop pin holes at the folds, and you can pick these bags up on the side of the road.
[/quote]

I have a great source of Mylar. go to a local TV repair shop and ask if you can get the reflective screen from the projection TVs in the scarp pile. It is perfectly mirror quality and can cover two hive tops. I use it for making parabolic dishes to heat water for my green house and am making one for a souped up solar wax melter.

[CapnChkn]

@derekm:  They're not in the roof.  They're above the inner cover.

@divemaster1963:  Cool!  I haven't seen a TV repair shop in about 20 years, but I'll keep that in mind.  Word on the solar collector.  You don't need to have a great deal of heat.  After a certain point, the wax degrades in color and quality.

About 200 ℉ (90 ℃) is all you'll need to make it work.

[BlueBee]

I haven't seen a TV repair shop in about 20 years

LOL, no more flyback circuits to fry!

[JRH]

Here are some observations - based on two hives measured by cheap eBay sourced indoor/outdoor thermometers.

In both hives - one of which is a single deep and the other a two-deep plus one medium - one moderately populated (the single) and the other heavily populated I am seeing very consistent readings from 92 to 95 degrees with outside temps ranging between 65 and 100 degrees.

Both probes have been dropped an inch or two down through the hole in the inner cover so that the probe is just below the middle top bars.

For ventilation these hives have -

• No entrance reducer - entry full width X 3/4"
  
  Solid bottom board
  
  Small entry/exit slot in bottom side of inner cover
  
  Ventilator device 19 7/8 X 16 1/4 X 2 made of 3/4" pine (picture a hive body cut into 2" high sections) with two   1" holes front and back - screened in back but not in front so as to provide another top entrance - under the inner cover
  
  Underside of "Telescoping" cover insulated with 1" thickness of styrofoam backed with political lawn sign material
  (I forget the name of the stuff) to prevent chewing.

I never get any bearding.

One cool night I noticed a number of bees blocking the holes - to help keep everybody else warm, I guess.

As the temps get cooler, the vent comes off first, then the entrance reducer goes back on.

This link is shot of a vent device with just a single top vent hole front (OK and in back, too).

http://i1233.photobucket.com/albums/ff397/jrhills/Bee%20Shots/IMG_0001.jpg

[derekm]

The bees need air movement to cool the hive by evaporation and need an exhaust to dump the humid air.

Cooling using solar power  bee controlled - chimney cooling. use the chimney effect - it was once used to ventilate mines.

Insulate and make reflective the hive. Erect a metal chimney on the top of hive (say 3ft high and 4" dia) over a 3" diameter hole in the top of the hive that has a mesh that that bee can propolise to regulate the ventilation.
Paint the top 2/3rds of the chimney matt black.
The chimney getting hot when the sunshines on it  will cause air in it to rise and draw air in to the hive from below. To stop rain entering the chimney at the top use a sleeve type cowl described below.

This cowl is  ta larger tube that is attached to the top of  chimney to extend the top but because the larger tube is mounted on the lower smaller tube with a gap the rain (falling at an angle) hits the larger tube runs down the inside of the cowl but down  the outside the chimney tube.

[divemaster1963]

@derekm:  They're not in the roof.  They're above the inner cover.

@divemaster1963:  Cool!  I haven't seen a TV repair shop in about 20 years, but I'll keep that in mind.  Word on the solar collector.  You don't need to have a great deal of heat.  After a certain point, the wax degrades in color and quality.

About 200 ℉ (90 ℃) is all you'll need to make it work.

yea I am planning to use the wax melter during the winter. I have about 40 feet about 36" wide. comes with a stirofoam frame with it. you could remake the frame to fit over the top cover very easly.

john

[BlueBee]

I love your photo JRH/Jeff;  they look like happy bees.

I like your design.  It sounds like you've got a natural chimney effect going.  I also like that you've got real data to back up your design. 

A couple of questions: 

Do your bees attempt to build any comb in that 2" vent box?  Any reason for picking 2" vs some other thickness?  Do you have a protective coating/wax on your hive body?  I'm assuming so since it isn't gray looking from UV exposure.

[JRH]

I have several designs.  Some incorporate vent holes on all four sides.  Some just have vents front and back.  Some are "deeper" than others to accomodate bigger holes.  I vary them depending on the temperature.

For more pictures see:

https://picasaweb.google.com/104054520958509617471/August82011?authuser=0&feat=directlink

I never have problems with comb in the vents.  Generally the vents are above the inner cover, but when I am feeding out of zip lock bags I often reverse the positions to accomodate the height of the bag.  The natural finish on some of the boxes is 2:1 Linseed Oil:Turpentine.

[Intheswamp]

I have several designs.  Some incorporate vent holes on all four sides.  Some just have vents front and back.  Some are "deeper" than others to accomodate bigger holes.  I vary them depending on the temperature.

For more pictures see:

https://picasaweb.google.com/104054520958509617471/August82011?authuser=0&feat=directlink

I never have problems with comb in the vents.  Generally the vents are above the inner cover, but when I am feeding out of zip lock bags I often reverse the positions to accomodate the height of the bag.  The natural finish on some of the boxes is 2:1 Linseed Oil:Turpentine.

The link doesn't work...