Capillary Action under lid

[huntsman666]

They take condensate water to dilute the honey they consume. They need to get the water/honey mix back to about 50/50.

 

[oliver90owner]

They take condensate water to dilute the honey they consume.

Only for very minor brood rearing. It doesn't really matter in the depths of winter; all they need to do is metabolise it for thermal energy. You're back from your 'read only' sabbatical, I see.

 

[huntsman666]

[ You're back from your 'read only' sabbatical, I see.]

And you continue to be a bully. Some things never change.

 

[tonybloke]

And you continue to be a bully. Some things never change.

where was the need for that remark?
why the continual attacks?

 

[huntsman666]

Perhaps you simply don't know how Oliver comes across. I find it pretty unfriendly and combative.

 

[Drew]

They take condensate water to dilute the honey they consume. They need to get the water/honey mix back to about 50/50.

They take condensate water to dilute the honey they consume.

Only for very minor brood rearing. It doesn't really matter in the depths of winter; all they need to do is metabolise it for thermal energy. You're back from your 'read only' sabbatical, I see.

And you continue to be a bully. Some things never change.

where was the need for that remark?
why the continual attacks?

Quite right Tony - Although I think you should have aimed your comment at RAB - Huntsman answer was "on topic", RABs wasn't

 

[BCBEE]

You can get condensation on the underside from outside air as well remember.

Replace metal lid (why do you need a heat sink up there?) with a sheet of correx that has a decent over hang and drip lip

Everybody probably knows this : Ventilation in the roof space needs to be above the insulation, to prevent internal condensation in the roof space. To prevent condensation in and above the crown board the bottom of the crown needs to a vapour barrier. In such a poorly insulated structure as wooden hive there will still be condensation in the bee occupied space. Consider making the underside of crown board so that water droplets forming on it will tend runoff to the side.

good point about the metal lid and will look at correx.
re the comment about making the water run off...any ideas how to do this.
Cheers
Phill

 

[user 6228]

good point about the metal lid and will look at correx.
re the comment about making the water run off...any ideas how to do this.
Cheers
Phill

Heres an idea - havent made it, so take it with a pinch of salt.

Square wooden frame about 1" deep with a correx sheet that slightly too big in one dimension so it has a crease in the centre to fit. This makes a shallow pent roof. Pins that go into the corrugations hold it on two sides(the sides with bend). The two straight smooth sides go into grooves. Sealed/glued with silicone or epoxy.

 

[oliver90owner]

Simple fact. Back again.

Recent post: I'm going into read-only mode for now.

Now back making wild claims that bees only consume food at 50% water content - and that extra water is collected from condensation in the hive.

Pray tell us all: where do the bees get all this 'condensation water' from in a dry hive in the depths of winter when clustered tightly, and so barely moving as a group, for perhaps a month or more? I would be interested in a sensible answer. Otherwise, the claim is wrong yet again.

 

[drstitson]

rab - just playing devils advocate - could it be possible that in a cold winter hive some of the H2O generated by respiration condenses almost immediately upon any adjacent colder surface (ie on the stores themselves) rather than all rise to the crownboard?

 

[user 6228]

.
...
Pray tell us all: where do the bees get all this 'condensation water' from in a dry hive in the depths of winter when clustered tightly, and so barely moving as a group, for perhaps a month or more?

Metabolisation of sucrose C12H22O11 releases around 60% by weight water.
12kg of dry sucrose consumed by a hive will release 7 litres of water over the winter. So just producing the heat to survive in winter produces water. In addition any weight loss by the bees will add to this quantity.
Sugar or honey above the bees will absorb so of the water vapour directly from te air

 

[drstitson]

"In addition any weight loss by the bees will add to this quantity"

i thought that bees "hibernated"/clustered due to lack of forage and unsuitable climatic conditions for flying not in order to achieve that oh so desirable size 0 body.

In late spring/early summer do magazines targeted at the worker bee demographic run features on how to get the perfect bikini tergites in only 2 weeks?

 

[huntsman666]

Simple fact. Back again.

Recent post: I'm going into read-only mode for now.

Now back making wild claims that bees only consume food at 50% water content - and that extra water is collected from condensation in the hive.

Pray tell us all: where do the bees get all this 'condensation water' from in a dry hive in the depths of winter when clustered tightly, and so barely moving as a group, for perhaps a month or more? I would be interested in a sensible answer. Otherwise, the claim is wrong yet again.

Since when do bees feed when tightly clustered?

 

[drstitson]

oh come on - let's fight over definition of tight.

do we accept that bees are "clustered" below 10C? ie in winter.

if so, and they didn't feed, then we wouldn't be worrying about how many kilos of syrup/fondant to give our hives in preparation for winter!!!!!

stores don't magically disappear into the ether during winter (perhaps the little people steal them?) - they are metabolised by winter bees to form CO2 and water and release the energy necessary to keep them just warm enough to make it through to spring.

 

[huntsman666]

What Yates has to say on the collection of water and its use by the colony.

Extract from 4.17.1: 'Additionally the honeybees produce a liquid excreement and must consume water regularly in order to survive. This water requirement is mainly derived from nectar but under certain circumstances the colony requires to actually collect water. The need arises when the average sugar content of the food exchange starts to become unbalanced and has a concentration greater than 50:50.'

It's amazing what you can learn from books REB. You should try it sometime.

 

[Skyhook]

What Yates has to say on the collection of water and its use by the colony.

Funny, the only thing I could find by him was

'Nine bean rows will I have there, a hive for the honey bee,
And live alone in the bee-loud glade.'

Doc, could you pass me my coat?

 

[drstitson]

The quote from Yates is very non-specific - yes bees need to collect water - we've all seen it happening. However the extract appears to be referring to the needs of the colony in general and not specifically on an individual bee or seasonal basis.

we all know individual bees can "eat" fondant with low water content or even pure sugar.



BTW just because something is stated in print, no matter how authoritative the author, doesn't mean it is correct!!!! Errors and incorrect old beliefs that have no evidence to back them up often get carried through various additions of "textbooks" without being picked up or amended until perhaps a fresh new author arrives on the scene and completely revises the whole text.

 

[drstitson]

Skyhook - you can gladly borrow my coat! I'm still adequately protected from the elements having borrowed Rab's hat for a minute!

 

[huntsman666]

Very subtle. Thanks for the smile.

 

[user 6228]

Skyhook - you can gladly borrow my coat! I'm still adequately protected from the elements having borrowed Rab's hat for a minute!

is that the hat with the bullet holes and the arrow sticking out it?