Insulation!!!!!!!!!

[Finman]

Oliver


Finman - UK winters tend to be humid unlike your dry Arctic cold.

you have no winters, only tend

 

[Hivemaker.]

BA told me of his trials with ventilated floors in I think the 30s!

He was obviously not that impressed,as he never used them on his MD hives on Dartmoor.

 

[Nic Rhodes]

no he wasn't a fan at all if our conversation was typical, in fact he was quite anti them, but he did do a full trial of them to see if they might help back then. He trialled most things to see what worked for him which is why many admired him. He was ahead of the game. Quite what he did not like them I don't know, it was a long time ago now though so much has been written by him / about him I suspect it is captured somewhere.

 

[BBG]

The summer before last we picked up what was reported as a swarm of bees. The swarm had already gone but what we did find was a rotten old hive on a piece of disused ground that nobody had been near for years. You couldn't touch what was left of the hive for fear of collapse. We brought in a new hive and started dismantling. The frames inside had disintegrated and there was a hugh colony of ants living downstairs. The bees were living attached to the roof. They had drawn masses of beautiful comb. We inverted the roof in our hive and left them overnight to settle.

Insulation? Non existent. There was a gap in the brood box and at least two entrances. The main entrance had disappeared into the ground. You could see daylight from one side to the other. The people who reported the swarm said that they'd seen bees about for a few years so goodness only knows if it was these poor souls, albeit they seemed very healthy and a good strong colony once we got them home.

Some 20 or so years ago, MAFF or a University under Professors, I think did a study of sheep.

The question was:

What happens if you shear sheep in the winter or if lambs are born early during very cold weather. around Christmas.

Conclusion: "They just shiver".

Some food for thought when next you see that fine little creature, born before time to catch the good price, frolicking in the iced grass.

Enjoy your lamb chops, every shivering inch of them.

 

[Andy Duff]

Nearly 10 pages now

 

[Andy Duff]

If one still believes in matchsticks then Father C and Fairies are not out of mind either.

It was put forward in the "good old days" by a certain organisation as a way to combat damp in hives.

I have just spend considerable funds on improving the thermal efficiency of my business to not an inconsiderable success. It included removing holes from the premises leaking heat. *hint*

Bees love warmth, I promise you this is true.

I was privileged to see the results of the first trials in the UK of ventilated floors, research carried out to improve wintering way before Varroa arrived. More floor ventilation better wintering IF coupled with top insulation.

Matchsticks = detrimental conditions for bees. Challenge yourself to try the better way and see what happens. Dogma is just that, dogma.

PH

How many more times will we have to see this? PH, I fear we will continue to
for some time.

Should we try for an e.petition and see if we can outlaw matches? We could make a killing selling bootleg matches to the gullible.

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

Yes, and not a mention of a matchstick........... until page 7 - thanks finman

 

[richardbees]

...............bits of barbecue skewers from your local 99p shop do just as well

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

...............bits of barbecue skewers from your local 99p shop do just as well

aaaaaaaaaaargh!!!

 

[richardbees]

No Jenkins, bits of willy won't do at all!

 

[Skyhook]

Not quite finman!!!

even working on inner cirumference of top of brood box we have 42cm x 4.

assume a matchstick is 2.5mm thick.

42 x 4 x 0.25 = 42 cm squared vent in top of hive.

Always prone to misunderstanding- 42 square cm, NOT 42 cm squared.

 

[For want of a better word]

If one still believes in matchsticks then Father C and Fairies are not out of mind either


SSShhhhh..... don't tell my kids... they think I believe in Santa AND faries... which of course I do !

May be if the thin glossy magazine ran a story to the contrary I would believe it to be misinformation and journalistic sensationalism, once again in an attempt to boost the dismal circulation.

X G I am joking... Southern humour !

 

[Finman]

Always prone to misunderstanding- 42 square cm, NOT 42 cm squared.

what ever
but guite on hole on top.

It is sure that pathogens will dien in cold fresh air. Pathogen free beekeeping after millions of years.

Food consumpition is huge in that system.

 

[susbees]

And we finally have winter this morning: -6 deg C. Due to last a week or so. I knew I should have migrated til Spring...

 

[susbees]

What happens if you shear sheep in the winter or if lambs are born early during very cold weather. around Christmas.

Conclusion: "They just shiver".

Some food for thought when next you see that fine little creature, born before time to catch the good price, frolicking in the iced grass.

Enjoy your lamb chops, every shivering inch of them.

We used to lamb January in Norfolk. Always indoors and not a bundle of laughs for the shepherd either thanks.

Now we don't lamb at all. Nor do I eat lamb. Or anything with legs for that matter. But for info our ungenetically altered Jacobs lamb perfectly naturally first week February and we've had accidental lambs on Christmas eve before.

 

[oliver90owner]

I always do - and they never propolise, so they appreciate it!


Ha , ha , ha, ha!. Tell us some more jokes and fairy tales.

You inflict these conditions on your bees. They have to put up with it. Why don't you admit it, most on here keep telling you that in season (when the bees can easily proppolise 2-3 mm gaps a gauze over a escape hole in a crownboard gets propolised very quickly. A travelling screen will likely be completely propolied over in a short time. BTDT, so, I do know....

 

[Poly Hive]

To be fair there are bees that propolise heavily and those that do not.

My AMM bees were very sparse with propolis, although a friend of mine running same units and bees although very close to pine trees had considerable propolising.

That may be part of this instance.

However that is not to say one can generalise from the particular and in general as said over and over, bees hate draughts above them.

Horse and water comes to mind.

PH

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

Horse and water comes to mind. PH

What? - you can lead a horse to water but you should nevr put it in your Scotch? - wassat got to do with matchsticks?

 

[Poly Hive]

Do keep up.

PH

 

[scuttlefish]

Bees love warmth, I promise you this is true.

Definitely need matchsticks then, so they can light a fire if it gets cold.