Heating??

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I think the first word of the title answers your query.

PH
 
The topic has been discussed on the forum on several occasions. A search such as 'heat' will find them, but mixed up with lots of other topics.

RAB
 
http://www.beesbatsandbeyond.com/Assisted_Heating.html

Found this artical conserning background heating in hives using trace heating tape to avoid hive collapse due to low temperatures or excess condensation.

Being a complete beginner I was wondering if there is any merit in this, or a complete waste of time.

Von

dont think Berkshire gets as cold as Massachusetts

" Winters are cold, The state does have extreme temperatures from time to time with 90 °F (32.2 °C) in the summer and temperatures below 0 °F (-17.8 °C) in the winter not being unusual.!"
 
All a bit elaborate..

Just buy some straw board and strap around it..
 
as discussed on other threads cold in itself is not a problem. damp is the killer.
warming the inside of the hive is going to do two things - 1. fool bees into thinking it is warm outside so they don't cluster properly and maybe even go out and then die of cold and 2. increase condensation on cold hives walls.
 
http://www.beesbatsandbeyond.com/Assisted_Heating.html

Found this artical conserning background heating in hives using trace heating tape to avoid hive collapse due to low temperatures or excess condensation.

Being a complete beginner I was wondering if there is any merit in this, or a complete waste of time.

Von

that guy is out of mind. fist he insulated hive, then he let the heat out via inne cover and then a huge heating capacity.

I have heated 7 years hives with terrarium heaters. Winter heating is unnecessary and
expencive..

This winter I heat on nuc whhich has only 2 frames of bees. I put there 3W heater. If you put heater under the cluster it disturbs winter sleep and bees cannot regulate its temperature.
On side or on top the heater is like a part of bigger cluster. A colony situates itself beside the heater. It need not eate so much because it gets support from heater.
 
that guy is out of mind. fist he insulated hive, then he let the heat out via inne cover and then a huge heating capacity.

I have heated 7 years hives with terrarium heaters. Winter heating is unnecessary and
expencive..

This winter I heat on nuc whhich has only 2 frames of bees. I put there 3W heater. If you put heater under the cluster it disturbs winter sleep and bees cannot regulate its temperature.
On side or on top the heater is like a part of bigger cluster. A colony situates itself beside the heater. It need not eate so much because it gets support from heater.

I thought you'd have something to say on this Finman. An answer as sensible as the link is daft! :)
 
.
I have calculated that electrict to heat the hive costs more than sugar.

You just count the price of kWH x hours of half year. Normal hive does well in normal hive.

2 frame wintering is just a curiosity. It is only a worth of queen. Because after winter such a colony cannot build up.

Small colony stresses itself because it must do a big work to keep itsef warm. The gut will be soon full and it dies. On the surface of heater cluster's living is easier.

What is right amount of heating in winter? it is easy to see when you lift inner cover and look the cluster. If it is loosely dispersed, there is too much heat.
 
I pasted this in another thread a few days ago. It is worth properly ingesting.
Overwintering Your Bees: A Warning.
From the Preface of the ABC & XYZ of Bee Culture (1947 Edition).
In the late (18)60’s and early (18)70's, Root* believed that bees needed warm housing during winter. Accordingly, he built a special winter repository building large enough to hold fifty colonies of bees, and yet leave a space for 24 inches of packing between the walls of the building and overhead. In this building he put fifty colonies of bees in the sincere and sure belief that the bees warmly housed would winter successfully. Did they? He had one of the heaviest winter losses ever known in the history of his beekeeping. The floor of the building was covered with dead bees. The colony heat developed a temperature in the room that caused the bees to fly out in the darkness and drop down on the floor to die.
The next winter he decided to give his bees plenty of cool, fresh air from outdoors, so he constructed an underground tile line, running from the outside of the building to the centre of the floor inside the building. He also put in a chimney to let the foul air escape. Again he suffered a heavy loss. Next, he decided to put in a stove in order to create an artificial draft, and on the coldest days he built a fire. While the circulation of air was improved, the temperature rose so high where the bees were, that again the bees flew out and died on the floor.
Undaunted, he tried again, and this time he left the colonies out doors after they had built up into good condition in the fall, on their summer stands. If he had left them uncovered it would have been well. But no, he still believed in artificial heat, and covered the hives with stable manure. The chemical heat generated was too much of a good thing and again he lost very heavily. He could not give up the idea of indoor wintering, so he built a greenhouse, large enough to take in about ten or fifteen colonies of bees. He believed that the bees needed mid-winter flights and that they needed sunshine and brood to replace the loss of old bees. The bees did fly out, but often did not get back to their hives. The bright sun lured them out but they bumped up against the glass. They dropped dead on the floor of the greenhouse, and the loss was as great as ever.
Although the exploitation of new and untried ideas cost him money, he still cherished the hope that bees needed a warm room during the winter. He next built another double-walled building or a house apiary. In this he placed his colonies around the walls with the entrance leading to out-doors so bees could fly on warm days. To keep up the temperature in the building he put in an oil stove. Now he believed he would solve the problem. Well, the warm air inside forced the bees outdoors when the air was too cold. They chilled and died in the snow and the colonies dwindled. He finally found that artificial heat for bees in a building or outdoors was a mistake.
*A.I. Root was the founder of the worlds longest established beekeeping supply company.
 
..
I do not know what mr Root has done. Today it is well known what bees need to live succesfully over winter. On Polar Circle area many keep bees succesfully in heated room or cellar or unused cattle house.

One guy keeps hives in the 'tent' where walls an the cover is made from insulating board and the bottom is open. The 15 hives produce so much heat that he does not heat the big box.


keeping hives over winter in cellar or something

- temp under 7C
- dark
- good ventilation
- dry air

in South Finland the best place is outside in permanently insulated hive boxes.
 
I guess European Bee Houses are used more for enabling manipulations during bad weather than for actual winter heating.
 
I guess European Bee Houses are used more for enabling manipulations during bad weather than for actual winter heating.

winter shelters and beehouses have very different idea. I think that no one use seriously beehouses in Finland. 50 years ago they were in use. Actually they are huge expencive to build.

Covering with snow is a good alternative against cold like -30C
 
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