Preparing for winter question

[Erichalfbee]

A saw is easier. If they are big enough keep offcuts to use as insulated dummy boards if you need to reduce the space inside a box.

 

[bellabee]

Meeeee to

Thank you ericA

Nb. We do not have holes in our roof, should we do this anyway...?

Sooooooo it will go:

Roof
Insulation
CB
Borrd

any gap between the roof and insulation?

Thaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaanks

 

[region2]

Thank you all for your advice - I will cover the holes in the crown board and add some insulation - Off to the DIY shop tomorrow - I assume it is easy to cut with a Stanley Knife.

Agree - use an old saw - a knife tends to wander and is often too short but a saw makes 'bits'. A bread knife is good but don't get caught!

R2

 

[Hebeegeebee]

The 'old' view of putting matchsticks under the crown board late in the season when the bees are not active enough to seal up the gap seems very much against nature. It might have been justified with solid floors if ventillation was poor - however it seems to be a hang-over from days before OMF. There's a thread on the Scottish forum about it. I have seen some odd things written in the BBKA magazine over the past few months.

 

[oliver90owner]

The 'old' view of putting matchsticks under the crown board late in the season when the bees are not active enough to seal up the gap seems very much against nature.

Agree entirely. Better to put the matchsicks (well, something more substantial) under the brood box. Have to be careful about the risk of water ingress, or take adequate precautions - which might mean tilting the hive to make sure any water runs out, and/or drilling small holes in the floor at drainage points.

My first couple of years were 'plagued' by too much draught or too little ventilation. I was really satisfied (and relieved) when I found how good the OMFs were for wintering - the write-ups were not all 'hype'!

Roof,
insulation,
crownboard,
super,
brood,
OMF,
stand

was my first trial with deeps with OMF. I then changed to 14 x 12 (with no super of stores) and have never looked back. Soo easy, soo reliable and soo trouble free.

There may be trade-offs - more stores consumed, more honey left in the brood box at harvest, slightly later start in spring, etc. I am more than happy to put up with all those as long as my colonies go through the winter safely. Dead colonies don't make any honey, and poorly wintered ones make less.

I can get around the 'down-sides' easily enough. Better insulation reduces stores consumption and temporarily closing off most of the OMF to any draughts at early spring brooding is another. The 14x 12s helped as well (brood nest could be higher in the combs quite easily). Running a couple of 'warm' Dartingtons helps to get the early brood going, too - usually with shallows on for brood - as the brood nest is very easily kept warm and it all helps to get enough foragers for the OSR colonies.

Most things have been tried 100mm EPS jammed in a shallow, or a feeder (yes, it was somewhere to store the feeder!), boxes under the brood (yep, they were 'stored' as well) but the bees drew wild comb in early spring!

So it is two-tiered 'nuc-footprint' poly hives and 14 x12 poly this winter on trial this winter.

RAB