Planning for winter with your bees simple and effective winter insulation for beehive

[@josephvogel7234]

I have a feeder box on top of my hives, and I planned to cut and staple the insulation directly to the bottom of the telescoping covers. Here in Texas, we can feed syrup as needed most of the winter. Additionally, I like the dead airspace the feeder boxes provide I think that adding the insulation to the top cover will help in the summer too.

[@walnutfarmbees-brian]

Yes, I could believe it might help with the heat down where you are. Other than winter, I remove it up in Pennsylvania as otherwise it just becomes a place for pests like ants to hide out.

[@UTsnowsailor]

Thank you for sharing

[@wilvertperez]

Smart idea thanks for sharing

[@UTsnowsailor]

Thanks for your video. Have you or other viewers ever used the black double bubble to wrap their hives? Im in norther Utah, snow country, and have previously wrapped my hives with tar paper. looking for a different, easier to handle and more durable material. Thanks for any shared experience on this question

[@walnutfarmbees-brian]

I’m not sure of your northern Utah climate but we have bees as far north as northern Pa not far from the New York border. I typically don’t wrap anything as we’ve found healthy colonies do well regardless, however I’m not sure there’s anything wrong with good insulation if done correctly. What I’ve found is that when we have insulated hives (as we’ve done for our breeder queens), they need ventilation on top unlike the rest of our colonies.

[@DaveCollierCamping]

The winter is coming

[@MinnesotaBeekeeper]

Rumor is it might get a bit cooler lol. Nice tip.

[@walnutfarmbees-brian]

What part of Minnesota? I would guess it’s a touch cooler there!

[@chase2518]

I live in Ohio I got burlap and wood chips to capture moisture in the top of my hive, I was also planning to place this reflective insulation inside the hive walls to help keep heat in or should I not do this?

[@walnutfarmbees-brian]

So, there's nothing wrong with using a moisture or quilt box at the top of the colony. It's something I don't know is always necessary but it doesn't hurt. I would not put the reflectix insulation inside the hive walls. Instead, put a piece under your lid, if it is used anywhere.

[@jamesbarron1202]

Do you block off any top venting?

[@walnutfarmbees-brian]

If you don't over insulate, I don't find a reason to ventilate. I don't wrap the boxes or anything like that, just the single piece of reflectix shown here. Even that is not 100% necessary, but it does help any condensation to not drip straight down. I don't use any upper entrance or ventilation. A healthy colony does just fine without any quilt boxes, wrapping, etc. I'm speaking from Pennsylvania and nearby areas--perhaps different in far north.

[@jamesbarron1202]

@@walnutfarmbees-brian I bought some of that yesterday before I ever saw your vid. Frederick Dunn (KZbin) said he was going to experiment with it this year and I figured I’d try it. I was going to lay it over my frame cover boards on my Long Langstroth hive. I have 1” foam board insulation under the lid also. I’ve got 2 regular Langstroths to do that to also. Fred said he doesn’t vent his hives either and everyone says you have to or moisture will build up. Fred said they need a little moisture to survive on when they can’t get out to feed. If your feeding dry sugar seems like they’d need some moisture on the sugar to be able to feed on it. I’m new at this stuff and no expert whatsoever.

[@walnutfarmbees-brian]

@@jamesbarron1202 Yes if you use dry sugar definitely want to spray it down or add some moisture or they’ll haul it out of the hive. Wait until freezing weather to add that.

[@adamsoutdoors]

First year in Ohio, I just cut some of those today.

[@walnutfarmbees-brian]

Sounds good! Around here (south central PA) I put them on sometime in November/December, or whenever the weather starts getting below freezing at night. It is one of those things that are a preference, not absolute mandatory for the colony to survive. The best thing is that usually it will keep the moisture away from the center of the hive.

[@adamsoutdoors]

@@walnutfarmbees-brian that is what I’m hoping for. Just enough to keep moisture from dripping back on the bees.