Cold weather insulating

[Beagle23]

I popped my garden hive open yesterday to feed the bees, there's plenty of ivy honey stores but it's very hard in these cold temperatures. The cluster was nice and deep and looked good but it got me wondering at what temperature would I nee to insulate (something I haven't done previously).
The hive is cedar and has a metal roof, the entrance is reduced to an inch-wide. This has always proved sufficient in the past but we haven't had a really cold winter since I began beekeeping in 2015.

 

[Erichalfbee]

Insulation in the roof over the crown board all year round.

 

[blackcloud]

Ditto
It stops the tin roofs roasting the hive in sunshine too.
My cedar hived colonies also show noticeable difference in cold weather activity when they have a thermal wrap on the boxes too although their off again as soon as the temps are consistently into double figures again

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

Insulation in the roof over the crown board all year round.

, make sure all the holes in the crown board are covered, then a slab of 50mm Celotex permanently ficked inside the roof is sufficient - this will also block those ridiculous vents in the roof

 

[JamezF]

, make sure all the holes in the crown board are covered, then a slab of 50mm Celotex permanently ficked inside the roof is sufficient - this will also block those ridiculous vents in the roof

I bought a couple of new ones in one of the sales earlier this year to give me a bit more wiggle room in case I don't get some repairs done on time. I made them up so that the vents don't actually exist, which in turn has left me with small pieces of mesh spare that are just the right size for closing entrances on bait hives.

James

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

I bought a couple of new ones in one of the sales earlier this year to give me a bit more wiggle room in case I don't get some repairs done on time. I made them up so that the vents don't actually exist,

James

Do that with all the flatpacks I buy in - build them with the notches on the inside and don't bother tacking the supplied battens around the inside of the roof (always handy for ripping up into rims for new crown boards or Demarree boards)

 

[blackcloud]

An alternative to modifying existing roofs is a separate insulator
4" frame of marine ply offcuts with suitable chunk of kingspan inset and pinned through the sides with bamboo skewers.
Seal cut edges with some Whateveryoulike.
Highly effective and using badge-of-honour upcycled materials and leftovers,virtually zero cost.

 

[user 20297]

An alternative to modifying existing roofs is a separate insulator
4" frame of marine ply offcuts with suitable chunk of kingspan inset and pinned through the sides with bamboo skewers.
Seal cut edges with some Whateveryoulike.
Highly effective and using badge-of-honour upcycled materials and leftovers,virtually zero cost.
View attachment 34710

......or cut out the middleman and put PIR sides on it to make a very deep all-year-round roof that insulates most of the box when you winter on one National Deep....photographed today.