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sahtlinurk

House Bee
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This is a part of an article from stoneleighfarms.com and i found an interesting "hi tech" system which mr.Ramsey is using. has anyone tried it ??

Lauri.


The hives Ramsey maintains aren't like your father's bee hives.
"All of my hives are polystyrofoam," Ramsey said. "It has an R-value of 7.5 compared to an R-value of 0.5 for wooden hives. This means that the hive stays cooler in the summer and warmer in the winter.
"In older hives, sometimes up to a third of the hive would be fanning their wings inside to keep the hive cool and to take the humidity out of the honey before they cap the cells. My bees no longer fan.
"I've discovered a very elaborate cooling system, and I can control the environment for the bees," Ramsey continued. "Since the bees no longer spend time fanning, that means that they are out there making more honey.
"Most beekeepers get 85 pounds of honey a year per hive. We get 225 to 250 pounds a year per hive. We harvest every four to five weeks instead of once a year."
In each of Ramsey's hives is a computer chip that constantly monitors the temperature and humidity in the hive, and fans turn on and off as needed.
Ramsey provides a liquid sucrose and lavender oil mixture for the bees to process when honey supers are not on the hives. "The bees are breathing in the lavender scent, and that is an irritant to the bee mites, which plague so many hives. The lavender knocks the mites back just enough that the bees can handle them, so I'm not medicating, and that allows me more productive time, and it's better for the bees as well."
Unlike older hives, the frames these bees use to store the honey in the hive are built out and made of high-grade plastic. Therefore, the bees have to make very little wax. .....

and i mean ventilation, not polyhives:)

the original web page
http://www.stoneleighfarms.com/Content/in_the_news.htm
 
Did you have a look at the fan he uses, looks like a standard CPU fan for the heatsink of a computer . If it works i expect it wouldn't be that hard to source the other parts.
 
They can regulate there own temperature especially with poly, what's the point of fans, seems massively over the top to me.
 
Its a case of we think we know better and nature is not able to function without our involvement.

It makes you think that somewhere someone is thinking if only we can get rid of the bees!
 
i am just wondering about the big honey yield difference using this cpu cooling fan. more than twice as "normal".

Lauri
 
Hi Lauri

I dont know but it may well be a bit of artistic licence it is all important as to what the bees have to forage on at the time.
 
i too think there is a bit more than just chucking a vent in the beehive to get bigger yields.But i like the approach. With playing temp and air humidity is it possible to achieve the best wintering conditions?
 
Hi

Don't get taken in by a load of B.S..................................................:icon_bs:


Regards Ian
 
wouldnt the power running to the fan and the fan motor, all produce electomagnetic fields to annoy the poor bees?
 
I read a similar article from the States last year. I looked into sourcing the components to make a solar powered fan system. The cost was going to be about £150 when you had puchased accurate thermostat:cheers2:s (which have to have their sensors in the brood box), a solar panel and all the subsequent electrical connections etc. It does seem like a very sensible idea. Maybe I should design & source a product and market it in my old age to keep the coffin at bay.
 
what we realy need, lol is a fully automated electronic hive rather than these old fashioned wooden jobbies, in that way we could have a tap on the super to fill the jars with aswell, lets have massive solar panels connected to each hive with battery back ups in that way when some thing goes wrong or the hive dies we can blame a battery that went flat ha ha ha ha
 

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