Hive Insulation
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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.
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I agree.
OP is in Essex. Not exactly Siberia
OP is in Essex. Not exactly Siberia
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I used to
https://beekeepingforum.co.uk/threads/hive-insulation.57663/#post-920898
But all colonies are in poly now.
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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.
I have built my hives out of recticel PIR. 60mm all side's. 30mm floor and 100mm roof.
All nice and cosy.
Phill. M .
All nice and cosy.
Phill. M .
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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
I have. I see we have 2 threads running. I put some pics in the other thread.
My hives are all 14 x 12.
32 frames in each.
Phill. M .
32 frames in each.
Phill. M .
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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.
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.
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