condensation

darren64 · Oct 12, 2010

I am getting a lot of condensation dripping from inside the hive onto the varroa board,I have a dummy board in,and an insulated roof,will it stop when I removed the varroa board after I've finished treatment and there is a bit more ventilation through the OM floor?

richardbees · Oct 12, 2010

Darren, put some matchstick size spacers under each corner of the cover board to create a small gap and allow ventilation on the inner walls of the hive.

Not sure what you mean by dummy board?

Richard

Midland Beek · Oct 13, 2010

darren64 said:
will it stop when I removed the varroa board after I've finished treatment and there is a bit more ventilation through the OM floor?

Yep. I would guess that moisture from inside the hive might be condensing on the cold plastic surface of the varroa board - assuming it is plastic - rather than condensation forming on the crownboard.

Finman · Oct 13, 2010

. Like midlanbeek says the phenomenom may be simply that the warm moist hive air meets the cold tray and then condensation happens. It is like respiration air condences onto car window.
This happens in the middle of the summer when night is cool.

You may make windows clean with ventilation or adding the heat inside the car.
The balance between heat and ventilation is a solution, not either or.

The treatment is not add ventilation but lead the condensed water away from hive.

If you add ventilation, it makes harm to brood. Bees must work harder to keep the hive warm.

The colder the hive the more condensation happens inside the hive.
When the box is warm, the warm hive air's dew point is outside the hive or on very cold surface.

.the difference between two air mass makes the condensation.
36 c respiraton air and 10c outer air.
.

drstitson · Oct 13, 2010

with all the above.

won't be a problem when board is out. won't be condensation from anywhere else in hive (at this time) because given the mass of bees we all still have filling & moving around in the spaces between frames there is no way that actual drips/drops of water would be able to make their way down through to the floor - unless your "condensation" droplets are actually lying in parallel lines on the varroa board!!!! (the OMF would also have water droplets trapped in the mesh in this case too).

MJBee · Oct 13, 2010

Are you feeding at the moment? I have found that the higher humidity as the bees evaporate the excess moisture from the syrup is enough to cause condensation and stops as soon as feeding stops.