Winter insulation

[Erichalfbee]

I leave the feeder on till empty for a day or so and the bees have largely abandoned it. Then slide off putting a piece of plastic or tile on top of the feeding hole.
I actually like a solid see through crown board in winter so it's a little smoke and a quick change. I have top bee space so fondant if needed is rolled thinly and put straight on the top bars.

 

[TryingToLetThemBee]

Thanks all; great stuff and bang on topic so hopefully useful for OP and others. Yes I can see there are many ways to do it, including swapping the CB. I had a NIGHTMARE last weekend putting a feeder hole in mine (2mm acrylic) so as I get more colonies, happy to avoid that! Thanks again.

 

[Cul a cnoic]

Confused again. Can someone take a few photos and post them please. Pintures are great for the likes of me. Thanks.

 

[Gilberdyke John]

Thanks all; great stuff and bang on topic so hopefully useful for OP and others. Yes I can see there are many ways to do it, including swapping the CB. I had a NIGHTMARE last weekend putting a feeder hole in mine (2mm acrylic) so as I get more colonies, happy to avoid that! Thanks again.

Why was cutting a hole in acrylic a nightmare? A cheap plumbers hole saw and a drill then it's two minutes work

 

[benaghbees]

midwinter - shallow eke; decent block of fondant (4-6kg) on top bars; solid crownboard; kingspan.

done. no faffing.

When you say "shallow eke" just what type of depth are you talking about?

Thanks

 

[drstitson]

either those sold as apiguard ekes (as per maizymores sales) or home made.

they're about 4cm deep; otherwise thick enough to take a decent chunk of fondant rolled out to cover top bars.

 

[user 6228]

the shallower the better for keeping the heat on the bees

 

[itma]

I've mentioned it before, but I've made some ply no-hole coverboards for my hives, or the wooden ones at least.
B&Q pine stripwood for the rims. 10mm square one side (for beespace) and something like 36x10mm (36 tall) on the other side.

Tall side down, it does for Apiguard and fondant feeding.
Tall side UP the 440mm square chunk of 25mm thick Celotex is nicely protected ...
Why have a loose eke? (they aren't usually very robust!)
Why not have it doing something useful permanently fixed to the coverboard? (It won't get broken, fastened to the ply - unless you are brutal!)

I'm going to attach a similar eke to one side of my T's polycarb coverboards too...

 

[drstitson]

the standard high sided crownboards for dadant blatts conveniently fit over the porches in the snow with the feeder hole open as an entrance if it warms up.

my DB hives have their own insulated blocks on top during winter, leaving the CBs otherwise redundant.

 

[TryingToLetThemBee]

B&Q pine stripwood for the rims. 10mm square one side (for beespace)..

Big fat winter bees! http://th09.deviantart.net/fs71/PRE/i/2013/012/f/3/big_fat_bee_by_luzenrique-d5r8gxz.jpg

 

[drstitson]

i use the 9x21 (or thereabouts) stripwood.

 

[REDWOOD]

Dam good idea having a crown board with a deep side for insulation and flip it for apigaurd/fondant, table saw is coming out tomorrow for making a demo model

 

[BeeJayBee]

the standard high sided crownboards for dadant blatts conveniently fit over the porches in the snow with the feeder hole open as an entrance if it warms up.

my DB hives have their own insulated blocks on top during winter, leaving the CBs otherwise redundant.

Brilliant idea!

An aside - are the DB hives the same as our Jumbo Langstroths? If not, what's the difference?

 

[Rob55]

How do you rate the thermal properties of the Pains polynuc? I have a small colony, which I'm thinking to try and overwinter in a smaller, well insulated box.

I overwintered mine in one last year with no problems, the cover board had condensation the entire time but it didn't seem to affect the bees. Not ideal but it worked.. Not sure where in the country you are, but the weather here is always cold and damp!!

 

[clv101]

Simple and straightforward is to get a 450x1200x50mm Celotex board from Wickes for about £6.

Just picked up some of this tonight - looks perfect for the job.

 

[REDWOOD]

I've mentioned it before, but I've made some ply no-hole coverboards for my hives, or the wooden ones at least.
B&Q pine stripwood for the rims. 10mm square one side (for beespace) and something like 36x10mm (36 tall) on the other side.

Tall side down, it does for Apiguard and fondant feeding.
Tall side UP the 440mm square chunk of 25mm thick Celotex is nicely protected ...
Why have a loose eke? (they aren't usually very robust!)
Why not have it doing something useful permanently fixed to the coverboard? (It won't get broken, fastened to the ply - unless you are brutal!)

I'm going to attach a similar eke to one side of my T's polycarb coverboards too...

Well I made one today only another 7 to go lol thanks for the tip a realy good idea.

 

[user 6228]

I've mentioned it before, but I've made some ply no-hole coverboards for my hives, or the wooden ones at least.
B&Q pine stripwood for the rims. 10mm square one side (for beespace) and something like 36x10mm (36 tall) on the other side.

Tall side down, it does for Apiguard and fondant feeding.
Tall side UP the 440mm square chunk of 25mm thick Celotex is nicely protected ...
Why have a loose eke? (they aren't usually very robust!)
Why not have it doing something useful permanently fixed to the coverboard? (It won't get broken, fastened to the ply - unless you are brutal!)

I'm going to attach a similar eke to one side of my T's polycarb coverboards too...

downsides:
The tall side up its a thermal bridge, tall side down you have increased losses by increasing the heated surface area.

 

[Itchy]

"downsides:
The tall side up its a thermal bridge, tall side down you have increased losses by increasing the heated surface area."
In English?

 

[user 6228]

"downsides:
The tall side up its a thermal bridge, tall side down you have increased losses by increasing the heated surface area."
In English?

in the tall side up configuration he is using it to contain high performance insulation, but the low performance of the plywood board conducts heat around the insulation to the outside. This compromising of insulation is known as thermal bridging.

Tall side down for fondant feeding: this places the brood further away from the insulation and increases the surface area above bees insulated by only thin stripwood. Since heat conduction is proportional to both surface area and temperature difference, increasing the surface area of the hottest surfaces is not good.

 

[PBee]

.....

Tall side down for fondant feeding: this places the brood further away from the insulation and increases the surface area above bees insulated by only thin stripwood. Since heat conduction is proportional to both surface area and temperature difference, increasing the surface area of the hottest surfaces is not good.

A sheet of plastic over the fondant before putting on the eke will reduce the effect, and you could then put extra fill of insulation in the eke if necessary.