In colder climates the bees may need some help retaining heat.
Insulating bee hives for winter.
I have my bees in national hives with a standard brood box and have never thought it necessary to insulate them.
You can do this by insulating beehives for winter.
Let s get something straight though before we dive into winterize hives.
Learn more about caring for bees in the winter here.
Our bee hives feature all the accessories needed for your operation and makes beekeeping easy for beginners and professionals.
There are many myths opinions and recommendations around whether to insulate or not.
Less energy spent on keeping the cluster warm over winter translates into less energy consumption.
In the winter bees create a cluster for warmth.
Be sure that your hive is properly ventilated as too much humidity and condensation is dangerous to a colony.
Make sure the bees have enough honey or sugar syrup to get through the winter.
Be sure to include an upper entrance for your bees to help ventilate some of the moisture out of the hive and to use for cleansing flights when the lower entrance becomes blocked with snow and ice.
The topic is winter beekeeping and keeping bees alive over the winter which includes insulating the hives in some manner.
Two final points before i describe my simple technique for wrapping.
Our agricultural practices have altered their environment so much so that s something new to contend with.
To cover your hives with insulation or not.
Winter is at the top of that cause of death list.
It allows your bees to keep the hive warm using less energy.
Winter isn t new to them but our hives are.
The beekeeper s challenge is how to balance the need for maintaining hive temperature when temperatures fall below 7c 45f without creating an environment that is prone to high levels of moisture due to poor ventilation.
Ventilation and overhead insulation too much moisture in a wintering hive is certainly a danger.
Let s get right down to it.
However everything on a farm boils down to energy management.
Apimaye hives are 6 times more insulated than wooden hives helping them survive longer and harsher winters.
However since working with bees in trees and comparing the two environments i can now see the vast difference in the thermal properties of a tree trunk and a national hive which is made with the minimum amount of wood.
The honey harvest.
The bees have stored about as much as they re going to before winter hits giving us a chance to evaluate their food stores and decide how much we can responsibly take from them.
This saturday is our last meet the beekeeper field day for 2019.
The bee cozy helps keeps stable temperatures and relative humidity levels due to the breathable material.
Bees have been getting through winter for thousands of years.
Keep your bees warm in the winter to reduce winter losses.
A bee cozy provides a waterproof breathable layer of insulation around the hive.
