October Brood

[ericbeaumont]

So I don't need any ventilation in the roof?

No, not ever, winter or summer. Welcome to 21st Century beekeeping!

 

[Matthew Roberts]

No, not ever, winter or summer. Welcome to 21st Century beekeeping!

So the vents in my national roof?

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

So the vents in my national roof?

superfluous if you pack the roof with celotex (which any sensible beekeeper should

 

[ericbeaumont]

So the vents in my national roof?

Take a look at a poly National roof - the Abelo is a the best example - and notice that the thick poly is unventilated and that the crownboard is more than 30mm thick. See those four unnecessary vents in the CB? Bees know better, and propolise them closed; if bees gain access to your roof they will do the same to the mesh vents.



Top insulation avoids the imbalance of temperature below and above a crownboard that would otherwise result in a loss of thermal efficiency and lead to condensation on the lower face of the CB. Bees are experts in thermal & humidity modulation and work to maintain chosen levels at minimal expense of labour and fuel.

Traditional beehive suppliers produce a lot of outdated equipment which is way out of tune with that aim because they invested in old designs and have no inclination or incentive to modernise. Why do they need to, when beekeepers are taught to buy the same old?

Forty years ago progressive European suppliers designed poly hives (still in use) which tally more closely with the thermodynamics of a natural nest than our thin wooden boxes. An example of this enlightened thinking is Abelo, an English company run by an experienced Polish beekeeper with a broader view of beehive performance than our routine UK suppliers,

This European influence tells us something useful about the way beekeeping has been (and still is) seen in Britain: a bucolic hobby for old white men with beards, Victorian vicars pottering on summer afternoons to the sound of Spitfires droning past, old ladies cycling to Evensong and honey still for tea.

Between these two worlds - the past and the future - you have fallen. Perhaps you learned about beekeeping from the old world, but you have a chance to re-calibrate and see a hive not from a mundane human perspective - economy of expense, convenience and nostalgia of shape, pretty flowers on the outside - but to 'think' like a bee and aim for thermal efficiency above all else.

https://www.researchgate.net/public..._collection_and_desiccation_by_Apis_mellifera
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/00218839.2021.1999578 Polyurethane honey bee hives provide better winter insulation than wooden hives

A Review on Thermoregulation Techniques in Honey Bees’ (Apis Mellifera) Beehive Microclimate and Its Similarities to the Heating and Cooling Management in Buildings A Review on Thermoregulation in Honey Bees' Beehive Microclimate and Its Similarities to the Heating and Cooling Management in Buildings