Open floor in winter?

[Mwsedgwick]

Hi

Are open mesh floors acceptable in the winter months in the UK?

We are based in the Midlands, pretty rural so have some decent cold spells.

Thanks

 

[pargyle]

Hi

Are open mesh floors acceptable in the winter months in the UK?

We are based in the Midlands, pretty rural so have some decent cold spells.

Thanks

Yes .. they are fine left open. My hive stands have skirt around them to stop draughts around the undersid of the hive floor and I think that helps but my mesh floors are always left open.

 

[enrico]

I used to leave them open but I am in a windy spot so I now just slip a corex board in. It still has a gap at the back for ventilation but it also helps me to see what is going on by the debris on it!
E

 

[Poly Hive]

OMF floors were developed to see if they improved wintering. They do but are meant to be coupled with top insulation.

For further reading look for Mobus on my site.
PH

 

[madasafish]

I live at 150meters elevation and a frost pocket and not in the balmy south like Pargyle.

Mine all winter on solid floors or with varroa boards in. An experiment early in my beekeeping comparing like for like showed indisputably - round here where I live - that solid floors are best in Autumn to early Spring.
Period.

My honey yields vs my neighbours - withing a 5 mile radius at similar altitudes prove it..( a lot more - statistically significant 30%+)

Any area which is conducive to the use of Sun Hives has a climate so balmy that any opinions from beekeepers from that area are irrelevant to the issues others in more stressed climates have to face.
(in my opinion, not a criticism - apologies Pargyle!)

 

[Erichalfbee]

Mine are all open but I have nadired shallows on most

 

[Walrus]

I live at 150meters elevation and a frost pocket and not in the balmy south like Pargyle.

Mine all winter on solid floors or with varroa boards in. An experiment early in my beekeeping comparing like for like showed indisputably - round here where I live - that solid floors are best in Autumn to early Spring.
Period.

My honey yields vs my neighbours - withing a 5 mile radius at similar altitudes prove it..( a lot more - statistically significant 30%+)

Any area which is conducive to the use of Sun Hives has a climate so balmy that any opinions from beekeepers from that area are irrelevant to the issues others in more stressed climates have to face.
(in my opinion, not a criticism - apologies Pargyle!)

Same for me - solid floors do better, but I’m trying some with partial mesh this winter (2 - 3 inches at the back).

 

[Millet]

All mine are pulled out 4in at the moment they will be pushed fully in soon and left that way till spring.

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

Hi

Are open mesh floors acceptable in the winter months in the UK?

We are based in the Midlands, pretty rural so have some decent cold spells.

Thanks

Yes - most of mine are on OMF and some of my apiaires are pretty high up and I experience no problems with them

 

[Erichalfbee]

Same for me - solid floors do better, but I’m trying some with partial mesh this winter (2 - 3 inches at the back).

My answer to that is to deepen the floor under the omf so that the inspection tray sits a good 2/3 inches under. Then you can slide the correx in and still have ventilation

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

All my OMf's are constructed with 4" sides (to facilitate under floor entrances) maybe that's the thing, the off the shelf floors are flimsy thin affairs with very little depth below the mesh

 

[Newbeeneil]

Yes .. they are fine left open. My hive stands have skirt around them to stop draughts around the undersid of the hive floor and I think that helps but my mesh floors are always left open.

Last year I wrapped pallet wrap around my stands, it created a volume of reasonably still air beneath the underfloor entrance OMF so hopefully reduced draughts.
Certainly the hives with that on all seemed over winter well but I didn't do any very scientific testing!

BTW Pargyle how did you get on with the square buckets?

 

[pargyle]

I live at 150meters elevation and a frost pocket and not in the balmy south like Pargyle.


Any area which is conducive to the use of Sun Hives has a climate so balmy that any opinions from beekeepers from that area are irrelevant to the issues others in more stressed climates have to face.
(in my opinion, not a criticism - apologies Pargyle!)

No you are quite right ... we are very fortunate in the south not to (usually) have the continued cold conditions seen in the more arctic areas ... even in the south my hive stands incorporate a 50mm skirt around the underside of the hive and a slatted sub floor that takes the worst of the draughts away .. I have put inspection trays on the sub floor as well if we have experienced really cold spells...

 

[pargyle]

BTW Pargyle how did you get on with the square buckets?

They are going to save me about 60% of floor space storing my honey...absolutely cracking bit of kit ... it will never catch on though...'honey stores better in round buckets' I was told by one beekeeper... lord knows where that idea came from !

 

[Newbeeneil]

They are going to save me about 60% of floor space storing my honey...absolutely cracking bit of kit ... it will never catch on though...'honey stores better in round buckets' I was told by one beekeeper... lord knows where that idea came from !

I agree..... I love 'em. My only complaint is the twist in the handle when lifting and full of honey!

 

[Karsal]

Hi

Are open mesh floors acceptable in the winter months in the UK?

We are based in the Midlands, pretty rural so have some decent cold spells.

Thanks

I've a picture of a Paynes poly nucleus colony that I overwintered with the OMF open. They were on four frames going into winter. Unfortunately I forgot this one last year and left it open.
The picture says it all!
They obviously didn't like it open and propolised it. I now close all my OMF's and open them in springtime.

 

[Erichalfbee]

I've a picture of a Paynes poly nucleus colony that I overwintered with the OMF open. They were on four frames going into winter. Unfortunately I forgot this one last year and left it open.
The picture says it all!
They obviously didn't like it open and propolised it. I now close all my OMF's and open them in springtime.

That's a brilliant photo
Clever bees
Can I borrow the photo?

 

[Dariusz]

i see they know how big fragment of netting leave unpropolised.

 

[SDM]

I leave the mesh floor open on 50 something poly nucs at a site I reckon is as windy as any in the country Never had any propolis on the mesh.

 

[Karsal]

I leave the mesh floor open on 50 something poly nucs at a site I reckon is as windy as any in the country Never had any propolis on the mesh.

They obviously did not like this one open!