hive roof space

[wightbees]

Block bottom entrance, leave top open BUT there would be a mesh screen to stop anybees from coming out.
Idea is to help vent them in moving the hives.

 

[Poly Hive]

Tom? Weight? Bees do NOT need top ventilation. Far from it in fact.

With the best of your interests at heart Weightbees please do not start to invent a new way, it's ALL been done before and we are where we are with what we do.

Tom? My poly hives have no ventilation in the roof and there is no need for one either. In fact with decent top insulation there is no need for that wee ventilation space as they exist to dry off condensation and in decently insulated hives there is NO condensation.

PH

 

[wightbees]

I'm not inventing anything Poly Hive ,just making what i have seen.
There are even poly Langs with the top vent idea also being used as top entrances.

 

[Poly Hive]

Well Weightbees I have not seen one, a poly with top vents. Ever.

As for needing one, no they do not. If you are reading American sites then be prepared to dump 99% of that info. It is not directly applicable.

PH

 

[MuswellMetro]

Well Weightbees I have not seen one, a poly with top vents. Ever.

As for needing one, no they do not. If you are reading American sites then be prepared to dump 99% of that info. It is not directly applicable.

PH

agree, 99% does not apply, In the USofA they move hives long distances over days sealed from40f to 90f , high single mono source then nothing for two days travel to the next mono source

so they are after fast bees in fast bee out, therefore entrance near the super....with special ventalaion for the long distant

...so how do the undertaker bees remove the dead

in the IOW temperate coastal climate rarely get into the 80F

Biuld a straight langstroth or BS national brood out of ply, depending on whether you want TBS or BBS

small langstorth supers at 146mm high can be made from 3/4 x 146mm-148mm " recailmed or skip found floor boards.( standard 1930's floorboard size)

 

[wightbees]

This is the read up of the poly Lang
Hive Roof
Even the humble roof has benefitted from a re-think. In normal use this 40mm thick design provides a high level of insulation, keeping the bees warm in the winter and cool under the summer sun. However, in times of high nectar flow it can be inverted to provide an upper entrance. This technique is often used in Scandinavia but is rarer in the UK. The technique provides improved hive ventilation and direct access to the supers by the foragers. It can also be used to allow drones to escape if the queen has found her way into the supers and laid drone brood

As i said it sounded good to me so thought i would have a go .
you can have a look at them here if you want :http://www.modernbeekeeping.co.uk/item/11/hive-roof

 

[Poly Hive]

Actually MM that is not that right either but that is a topic for the other side of the pond forums.

Only in really hot climates are bees needing, and needing is a debatable word, top entrances, and that in situations with three or four brood boxes.

Not really the same deal is it?

PH

 

[MuswellMetro]

Actually MM that is not that right either but that is a topic for the other side of the pond forums.

Only in really hot climates are bees needing, and needing is a debatable word, top entrances, and that in situations with three or four brood boxes.

Not really the same deal is it?

PH

when i had a holiday in New York State, the commercial beekeeper i talked to, said the Top entrances was for fast in fast out..but then he also open fed his bees honey water in gallon drums in summer and gave them pure dry granulated sugar in winter...so possibly talking out of his A.....

...they are "different" to uk Beek in all ways

 

[oliver90owner]

If a second top entrance was of any particular importance, do you not think this would have been a standard fixture or fitment? No? Surprise, surprise. It has been tried before and will be tried again. The National standard has been around since about 1920; it was developed on experience of about the previous 50 years; no hives since have two entrances as a normal method of operation.

Don't try to re-invent the wheel, especially with zilch experience under your belt. It won't work for the variety of reasons given in the thread.

Bees will normally propolise any gauze ventilation placed over the crownboard feed hole. They obviously don't want that ventilation; they want to conserve warmth and regulate it under their control. Bees will build comb and generally defeat you attempts at some time. Bees do not need large volumes of air at the top of the hive - that will be the warmest part of the hive in winter and be losing heat energy hand over fist.

Yes, you have it pretty well all wrong. If you think through your proposals with any sense of practical application, you will realise the folly of the assumtions you have made.

This post may be too straight and direct. Ignore the advice if you wish, but do tell all re your experiences with the arrangement; it may help to deter a few others from trying it.

Regards, RAB

 

[Poly Hive]

Ok so you turn the roof upside down. I have done this (not blowing but) thousands of times and put the supers on it.

The roofs I know do not have any ventilation. That is the Swienty items and the ones from Germany via Struan Apiaries.

In other words what ever Modern are selling does not add up to the standard.

Hence my challenge which stands.

PH

 

[wightbees]

Please i'm not INVENTING any thing just making a wooden version of a poly lang that i have seen for sale in the UK!
Now i'm new yes and maybe this style is not the best for the uk , so ok far enough.
but please i'm not inventing anything .

Please don't read this harshly as words can be read two different ways.

 

[wightbees]

sorry poly hive
what challenge ?
As i have said it was a hive i have seen ,liked it and was going to make a wooden version.
thats all.

 

[Poly Hive]

I am challenging the idea that an upper entrance is needed in the UK.

Please remember that our climate is maritime not contentiental
. Makes a huge difference.

PH

 

[m100]

Case in point from recent observations, I've a small (around 30mm high) eke between the brood box and a clear crown board that I used to give me space for a pollen patty. Now it's been consumed by the bees there are a clump of bees lurking with intent on the top of a frame and the slow start of wax building - only natural for a bee to fill any spare space possible.

Somewhere, maybe on this forum or the other place a while ago there was a photo of a hive that hadn't been fitted with a crownboard over winter. Come spring with a bit of a flow and a late first inspection they built out the entire roof space solid with comb

 

[Poly Hive]

I have not only seen but carried a Glen hive that not only had the roof space but the entire space around the brood box drawn out and filled...

Yes it was heavy.

PH

 

[Finman]

only natural for a bee to fill any spare space possible.

Bees have natural tendency to fill with resin all under 5 mm gaps and then bees tend to draw burr or drone combs in all over 10 mm gaps.

When bees cap the super, they make burr over the frames. Some hives tend to make more burr and some less.