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Author Topic: Wintering Honeyhouse?  (Read 2755 times)

Offline mtnb

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Wintering Honeyhouse?
« on: May 15, 2015, 11:57:21 am »
What about building a shed with maybe access from the front and back, where you could also add stryofoam insulation? Maybe close to an electrical source so you could turn on just a single light hulb during the winter to warm the place? I'm so worried that they won't make it through the winter here because it gets sooo cold. And the wind! Oy vey!  :wink: It blows! It frequently goes down to negative 30F for 2-3 weeks in January around here.

Now that I wrote this I'm realizing that I've read that bees have to have it completely dark when overwintering in a shed or cellar? So I suppose I'd have to wrap them?

What would your thoughts, apprehensions, suggestions be?
I'd rather be playing with venomous insects
GO BEES!

Offline mtnb

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Re: Wintering Honeyhouse?
« Reply #1 on: May 15, 2015, 11:58:53 am »
PS. Our thoughts for the light bulb being it would raise the temp enough for them to survive. That's how they pull chickens through here...
I'd rather be playing with venomous insects
GO BEES!

Offline mikecva

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Re: Wintering Honeyhouse?
« Reply #2 on: May 15, 2015, 12:44:47 pm »
I have a honey house (detached garage) that has a back covered patio. I put up a third wall toward the west that blocks the wind. If yo bring your bees inside you will have to keep them fed if it gets to warm (they may also keep producing brood) which may lead to swarming inside your shed.  :shocked: I use old political signs to block the back of my screened bottom boards that have slide out varroa count drawer. Last winter I also had to wrap the hives with roofing paper to give more protection to the hives that are out in my yards.  -Mike
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Offline mtnb

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Re: Wintering Honeyhouse?
« Reply #3 on: May 15, 2015, 04:18:45 pm »
If yo bring your bees inside you will have to keep them fed if it gets to warm (they may also keep producing brood) which may lead to swarming inside your shed.  :shocked:

Oh lord no! I definitely wouldn't want that! lol Maybe we just need to build a good wind break and make sure I wrap them well.
I'd rather be playing with venomous insects
GO BEES!

Offline OldMech

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Re: Wintering Honeyhouse?
« Reply #4 on: May 15, 2015, 10:13:11 pm »
Just a shed to block the wind with no heat would suffice.   
   I built a couple of those when I lived in Maine for the blueberry fields. It worked well to stave off bears as well...  5 ft wide and 14 foot long it held ten hives and rested on skids.. could be pulled on a trailer to move..   Excellent results last winter. SO good in fact I am planning to build one for here in Iowa to test it..

   Slower temp change inside the hive. this can be both good and bad..  Sheltering the hive from the winds is the main idea. we also get 50 mph winds.. when we get those while its -20 it gets really miserable..  We put a piece of cattle panel over a closable opening at the bottom rear of the shed, and at the top front to keep open in the summer.. heat rises, and it draws cooler air from ground level into the shed, so on those 100 degree days it is not overheating the bees inside.  It also has a solar panel battery maintainer..  there is a deep cycle battery that powers both a fencer for the bears, and two 12 v lights like a camper has..
   When inspecting inside, leave the door open and the bees that fly up usually head straight for the door..
   So far, I am quite impressed.
39 Hives and growing.  Havent found the end of the comfort zone yet.

Offline Joe D

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Re: Wintering Honeyhouse?
« Reply #5 on: May 15, 2015, 11:10:19 pm »
It doesn't  get near that cold here, I just have a few hives, but I have my bee hives under a roofed shed with a tin wall on the north side, open to the east and west and southern sides.  In the winter I put plastic up on the west side, and take it down in the spring.  They are in the sun but not the rain. 


Good luck to you and your bees.



Joe

Offline buzzbee

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Re: Wintering Honeyhouse?
« Reply #6 on: May 17, 2015, 08:08:03 am »
If the hives are well fed going into winter, getting them out of the worst of the cold is a plus. Keep them dark. They won't do a massive buildup toward swarming without a flow or overfeeding syrup. You shouldn't be feeding syrup while it's cold anyway.Emphasis on having "capped" stores before it gets cold in the fall.
 Just be sure to get them out early enough in spring that cleansing can happen on nice days.

 

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