Ventilation for the winter

[reinbeau]

How would you provide ventilation for the bees this winter?  I'm not closing off the bottom entrance, but would like to provide a top entrance both for ventilation and to let the bees get out in case there are dead at the bottom blocking the entrance (mouse-guarded).  I'm wondering if that's what happened last year, too little ventilation combined with a bee-body blocked bottom.  Any thoughts would be appreciated!

Keep in mind we're beekeeping in New England, here on the south shore the weather is more up and down than steady, fer sher!

[Michael Bush]

Many methods work .  A lot of inner covers already have a notch.  Just put the notch toward the front and slide the telescopic cover to the front as well.  If you don't have a notch, cut one. If you don't have a telescopic and inner cover, then you can also cut a notch in a migratory cover with a chisel.   I have just top entrances and close the bottom entrances:

http://www.bushfarms.com/beestopentrance.htm

[Robo]

I close off the bottom entrance and use either a notched inner cover,  a sugar board with a notched entrance, or a piece of rigid insulation with a notched entrance.

[Finsky]

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Michael and Robo live quite in warm climate.  Their system will not work in my climate. Bees must stay here inside the hive 6 moths. Their fly out only to die.


Why entrances are open in winter? -  Moisture, but one reason is that sick bees can fly out to die from lower entrance. I may see that during whole winter nosema sick bees fly out from lower entrance. If they do not get out, they drop-out  their feces inside the hive.

My hives are on the level of Anchorage Alaska. We use to put bottom entrance wider open for winter + mouse grid. Dead bees stuck small opening.

Our bees are in the hive normally from October   to Marsh = 4-5 moths. Then winter continues and hives must be in peace 1,5 months more.

If you have solid bottom, it is necessary to keep upper entrance open. Small finger size is enough. Bees get nosema, if there are ventilation enough in the hive.  ( Same is in Canada)

If we have here screened bottom, upper entrances is not  needed. Just protect hives against wind.

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When bees make cleansing flight, I close upper opening because bees start brooding. Bees try to keep their hive warm and they consume a huge amount of sugar then. It is danger that food will be too few before I make checkings.

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To put hives under snow cover, it adds moisture in hives.

In Northern Finland and in inner country they keep hives under snow. Frost is continuos and snow is not so bad because it is dry.

Even if we have -30C frost over snow, under snow cover temp is -5C

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[Finsky]

I close off the bottom entrance and

I have just top entrances and close the bottom entrances:

Here too air and bottom installations are many during winter. It is better find clear simple system ad not mix all kinds together.

During the winter bees die and they drop onto bottom. The will drop water too and before cleansing fliht there are a lot ice cover and ice stick hanging on the bottom bar of frames. It depends how much dead bees are on each bottom.

Open lower entrance is most essential. Things are better if there are small  holes in back side of bottom board. So hive takes there air and it moves it upstairs. Back side of bottom boar is then dryer than as closed.

From screened bottom I have got bad experiences. Many here swear only for the name of screened bottom.

Even if I had a electrict heating in my nuc, there was almost inch ice block on the bottom.

Hives has moisture and mould after winter. It is normal. Problems are away when willows start blooming and bees clean the whole hive.
If some problems stay, it is normal too.

ABSTARCT
* important is circulation of air which moves moisture outside of hive
* too much ventilation keep hive cold and it consumes food especially in early spring when hive has brood.
* There sad mesh in the hive after winter but soon everything seems cool when bees clear the hive .
* Losses happen but in some scale they are normal.
*I have 20% extra hives to repair losses. Most of losses are made by nosema and queen losses
* very seldom hive dies for starvation, and then they have had brood too much during winter.

* In autumn hive may consume  1lbs/month and in spring it may consume 8 lbs/month because it has brood.
   That is why starvation happens often in spring.

[Michael Bush]

My screened bottoms generally have a plastic tray in them (unless I forgot to put it back in).  This lets a little air around the edges of the tray but not a draft up the middle.  The point is to have a way for a little (and just a little) air to get in the bottom and a little air to get out the top to let out the condensation.  I also like to have an entrance at the top, even if there is a bottom entrance, to let bees out on warm but snow covered days to take cleansing flights.  We get warm days occasionally in winter.  Last winter we only had two kinds of days.  Warm days and frigid subzero days.

[Cindi]

Ann, wow, great post eh?  Lots of information.  Our temperatures are up and down like a yo yo too, I don't think we get nearly as cold as you do though.  For example, this morning the skies are clear and the current temperature at the weather station that is about 15 km from me (on the internet weather on my favourites) indicates that it is 2 Celsius.  Hmmm.....now I know for sure that they don't have the weather station set up at my place.  We have freezing, I know that it must be at least 0 C and not a digit higher.  No way.  I live in a little cold dip right where we live, we live beside a deep dark ravine that has a little water flowing through it in the wintertime.  We are colder, we get a little more snow when we get snow.  Oh bother, where was I going with this thought.... sorry, off track.

It is standard procedure here to have a lower entrance and an upper entrance, the slot in the front of the inner cover.  That is the only type of inner cover that I have seen for sale around here, period.  I don't think locally we can get any that don't have a slot in the front.  You are thinking down the right path, about requiring an upper entrance.  That is probably the most important part of wintertime beekeeping.  A bottom entrance may for surely get clogged with bees that die, they must have an alternate exit, and that is the top entrance, where no bee would plug it up.  You have heard the comments from our forum friends and they all have great merit with this topic.  Have a wonderful and great day, healthy wishes.  Cindi

[Finsky]

Problem in USA is that it is from Florida to Alaska.  My nature is like in Alaska but not so extremely cold.

My winter has 3 periods.

1) Autumn before snow: No problems, normal summer ventilation system. 2 months. Bees fly very seldom otside.
 stores are of couirse in high level. Food consuption is very slow and temps are mostly over freezing point.

2) Snow will stay and it time to cover/protext  hives agaist wind and snow and birds. From December to Masch. 4 moths

3) Early spring after cleansing fligh:  March - April. Bees do not get food from plants and they stay in hives. They have brood and food consumption may be high , many fold compared to autumn.

Nights are cold , often - 8C  and perhaps - 15. Ventilation must be minimized that heat do not escape and food are not consumed too much.  Moisture does not make trouples because hives isn warm. Air is mostly dry and sun is shining.

For brood bees visit outside to get drinking water and they must get soon to hive.
Griound is covered often with snow. It makes bees' living difficult compared the ground without sonow.

Food stores are low and I must watch over that they have enough.

If ventilation is too high, colony may die during cold days over food store. Colony goes to some corner and if food is finish there, it will day in couple of days.

Cold days and nights do not allow bee ball to move near food frames. That is why hive must be as warm as possible.

I restrict  the upperentarnce to minimum. It must be open because bees have done cleansing flight throug it and they remember only that entrance. If it is closed after cleansing fliht, bees get cold when they search the entrance. It is usefull when bees make short flights outside and they must return quickly to hive or they will be jammed in cold weather.

[Finsky]

In Finland we  learned much wintering from Danish when we bought Danish polystyrene hives.
Ventilation and temperature ecomy in polyhives are very different compared withe our early hives. And polyhive has forced us to think over whole wintering system. 

But we have many styles in wintering, - and of course everybody is absolutly right with his systems.




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