Condensation and Mould - Building regs say...

[Finman]

In "Beekeeping at Buckfast Abbey" , Brother Adam relates how he undertook a series of trials on hive insulation - he talks about 4" on the bottom , 6" on the sides and 8" on the top. No issues with condensation - all hives dry and no mould. However , without exception all colonies failed to build up in the spring. The colonies without such protection made rapid strides in the spring build up.

He tested this again the following year and had the same results.

Incidentally, this short book has some very interesting and enlightening tales of his experiences ( over 70 years) of beekeeping.

how long you are going to manage with Brother Adam's heritage. Look at your winter losses and stop dreaming.
brother Adam lived in very warm area, where Hivemaker lives, and he had no idea about winter.
.

But how the Brother can explain my results That I can get 3-fold build up with electrict heating and patty feeding. The bigger the colony, the faster the build up.

First step in my "warm Spring build up" was that in polyboxes the build up was really good. Hives got earlier surplus that I was able to pay new boxes with first year honey.

First 4 weeks minimum factor is number of nurser bees. Heat does not add number of brood frames.
In second stage, when the colony has fresh nursers, the limiting factor is heat =size of cluster and weather=do they get willow pollen outside.

If the cluster size is 4 frames or smaller, the build up is quite near to zero. If the colony looses more its bees for nosema or in bad weathers, it may stop brooding totally.

.

 

[Hebeegeebee]

In "Beekeeping at Buckfast Abbey" , Brother Adam relates how he undertook a series of trials on hive insulation - he talks about 4" on the bottom , 6" on the sides and 8" on the top. No issues with condensation - all hives dry and no mould. However , without exception all colonies failed to build up in the spring. The colonies without such protection made rapid strides in the spring build up.

He tested this again the following year and had the same results. A few years later his friend A W Gale also undertook a trial with 40 hives at the same time Br Adam did a further trial with another 128 hives on two locations. They both had the same results. In other words insulation was not only unnecessary but positively detrimental on the well being of the colonies.

Sometimes common sense ( insulting roof with cut out for feeding fondant ) does not always work.

I wish I had read this before I bought some kingspan insulation for my hives!

Incidentally, this short book has some very interesting and enlightening tales of his experiences ( over 70 years) of beekeeping.

As the dr says, Brother Adam didn't have OMF's which changes things greatly. (I've got that book too and it's an inteesting read). We don't know the detail of the hives he used which may be significant. Others may be able to describe the conditions that Brother Adam experienced - I suspect that damp was one issue.

There were advocates of WBC's (Herrod-Hemstall I think) that suggested filling the cavity and the space above the crown board with leaves which would give a reasonable degree of insulation if done well. (Good for mice too).

 

[Spadaman]

"brother Adam lived in very warm area, where Hivemaker lives, and he had no idea about winter. "

I agree that winters on Dartmore may be warmer than Finland (not sure where Gale lived) but Br Adam also mentions that this form of wintering was used but gradually abandoned in Canada. Interestingly , R O B Manley also shunned any form of insulation even during the cold winter of 1939/40 when the Thames froze over for weeks and one could go skating on it. He says that apart from one or two apiaries in exposed sites, losses were quite small.

My point is that these guys had many more years experience than me and probably most of us on this forum; they had to do things "right" as it was their living and if they got it wrong they got no honey. Any changes or new ideas were comparatively tested over a period of years before he adopted them ( or not). As a testament to Br Adams success he says his overall average surplus was 195lbs (88.5kg) per colony.

I'd be happy with that sort of return and that's why I am treating his ideas with some respect.

 

[Spadaman]

As the dr says, Brother Adam didn't have OMF's which changes things greatly. (I've got that book too and it's an inteesting read). We don't know the detail of the hives he used which may be significant. Others may be able to describe the conditions that Brother Adam experienced - I suspect that damp was one issue.

I agree that OMF's would probably make a difference.

Br Adam used Dadents, primarily due to the very large brood box - more bees = more honey if and when it happens. He has no time for BS brood boxes.

Br Adam says that South Devon is not a bee paradise - 65ins of rain per year average ( one of the highest in UK). I too suspect that damp was one issue.