Hive Insulation

[Nbw]

Does anyone on here wrap their hives in insulation?

Having lost a couple of hives last year in the cold I was looking at these. Do others use these on their hives?

Cheers
Nick.

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

Having lost a couple of hives last year in the cold

The cold may be an easy target to blame, but was that the case? in general, last year was pretty mild.
There are plenty of other factors that may cause the demise of a colony, the usual suspects are inadequate feeding, queen failure/poorly mated queen, low bee numbers/poor colony strength going into winter (which can trigger all kinds of other issues) varroosis, the list goes on and on, lack of 'insulation' comes right at the bottom of the list and wrapping the hive in a blanket or similar is never going to save a colony.

 

[Erichalfbee]

I agree.
OP is in Essex. Not exactly Siberia

 

[Erichalfbee]

Does anyone on here wrap their hives in insulation?

I used to
https://beekeepingforum.co.uk/threads/hive-insulation.57663/#post-920898
But all colonies are in poly now.

 

[Sutty]

Does anyone on here wrap their hives in insulation?

Having lost a couple of hives last year in the cold I was looking at these. Do others use these on their hives?

Cheers
Nick.

Looking at what they are made of they don't sound like much insulation.

 

[BeeKeyPlayer]

Does anyone on here wrap their hives in insulation?

A number of us on here put a piece of 50mm PIR (Kingspan, Celotex etc) at the top of the hive. That could be inside the roof or on top of the crownboard inside an eke. This is one of the frequently recurring topics here so you'll find pictures and many different approaches if you open a search.

You asked about 'wrapping'. That is much less common. Those of us with wooden hives generally opt just for top insulation. There's some science behind that too as you'll discover.

 

[Phill M]

I have built my hives out of recticel PIR. 60mm all side's. 30mm floor and 100mm roof.
All nice and cosy.
Phill. M .

 

[JamezF]

I have built my hives out of recticel PIR. 60mm all side's. 30mm floor and 100mm roof.
All nice and cosy.
Phill. M .

I've recently made some 5-frame nucs from PIR and had idly contemplated having a go at a full-size hive over the Winter some time. I'd probably attempt something that retained the standard national footprint though so I could re-use floors etc.

Do you have any photos of yours showing the construction?

James

 

[Phill M]

I have. I see we have 2 threads running. I put some pics in the other thread.

 

[Phill M]

My hives are all 14 x 12.
32 frames in each.
Phill. M .

 

[Macbear]

My apiary is less than half a mile from the sea which gives such a moderating influence on temperature that settling snow is unusual and the ground rarely stays frozen beyond a few days each winter. When the roof of each of my hives was constructed a slab of insulation board was included below the metal sheet [one copper, the other two stainless steel].* To the northward [seaward] side of the apiary is a disused railway embankment some 3m high, overgrown with mainly sycamores and the site is in a bowl - but not acting as a frost hollow. Cosy.
I'm in agreement with jenkinsbrynmair and BeeKeyPlayer on this.

*My hives were made by my neighbour whose last job was as a stainless steel fabricator. Access to scrap was no problem - hence the roof material AND my hive tools. The copper was half of an old hot water tank - he cut it in two and completed one roof, but wandering thieves stole the other half from his driveway whilst he was eating his dinner! As I mentioned elsewhere, this lovely gentleman gave me all his beekeeping kit when he ceased to keep bees.
Yes, I have capacity for 3 hives, but recently-imposed allotment rules restrict me to 4 in total. As I have a couple of nucs which get used, the "spare" hive kit is mainly as a reserve. The thought has occurred to me, that as my landlord is very ignorant about beekeeping I could piggyback a second colony above a crownboard and have the entrance facing transversely. The desire/need for that has not yet arisen.

 

[Cuckmere couple]

I used to
https://beekeepingforum.co.uk/threads/hive-insulation.57663/#post-920898
But all colonies are in poly now.

i also used to (insulated crown boards) but 2/3rds now in abelo poly which i dont bother insulating and have stopped insulating last few wooden hives too and no apparent issues in last 5 years or so

 

[Swarm]

My hives are all cedar hives, too many of them for kingspan or similar top insulation, it's too expensive and builders around here don't waste much of it. The bees do just fine.

 

[JamezF]

My hives are all cedar hives, too many of them for kingspan or similar top insulation, it's too expensive and builders around here don't waste much of it. The bees do just fine.

I sometimes have to "make do" with what I can find. Foaming polyurethane glue is pretty good for sticking together bits that are too small.

James

 

[Swarm]

Life is too short and the bees are fine. I have Abelo poly roofs on some but I gave up on those too when they kept hiking the price.

 

[Erichalfbee]

So you pays your money and makes your choice.
Commercial beekeepers won’t
I’m indulging a hobby and I do.

 

[ericbeaumont]

abelo poly which i dont bother insulating

On the contrary, improvement will be achieved if you use an Abelo feeder as crownboard all year round. In autumn insert into the feeder slot a length of silicone tube with an external diameter of 16mm and internal diameter of 10mm. This separation of nest and feeder will reduce heat loss into the feeder, and subsequent condensation in it.

Fondant feeding is easy: put on a QX and then fondant, turn the feeder box over the fondant and replace the roof. Any minor heat loss out of the feeder slot (now at the top) through the roof joint is prevented by the sealed slot. In spring the silicone can be removed and the feeder void used as reserve space for those occasions when the beekeeper is late with extra boxes.

 

[Erichalfbee]

Fondant feeding is easy:

I put 50mm PiR under my Abelo roofs and feed fondant this way if needed

 

[Garry R]

Does anyone on here wrap their hives in insulation?

Having lost a couple of hives last year in the cold I was looking at these. Do others use these on their hives?

Cheers
Nick.

Interesting that one of the insulating wraps was about £30 but a national poly brood box can be had for about the same money. No brainer IMHO.

 

[rossbyjove]

I have kingspan under the roofs and made some hinged and velcro kingspan jackets.
Put the jackets on last winter and lost a colony to crap queen and starvation.
Have not put them on again but it's thick frost outside right now but the sun is shining brightly.
Wait until it's really cold and grey before I think about putting them on again.