Combating damp hives

[Mellifera Crofter]

People often repeat that it's not cold, but damp, that's the enemy to overwintering bees.

Would a few sachets of silica gel in the hive corners help to combat dampness?

Kitta

[gavin]

Hi Kitta

When you consider the volume of moisture a colony produces in winter, I don't think that sachets of silica would do a lot of good. Forty pounds of honey might release several gallons of water.

Do you have a problem? Insulation is often the answer as that can help stop condensation above the bees where dripping would harm the cluster. Water condensing elsewhere might be a good thing as they will need some when brood-raising restarts and finding it indoors is easier than flying our to puddles.

I had scrappy second hand hives with leaking roofs - really bad news so I've replaced the worst ones with roofs from the sales.

G.

[Jon]

Correx is watertight as long as you have bricks on top.
You could make a correx roof to put over the leaky ones.
Half of my colopnies have a correx roof with 6" sides and an 18" square of polystyrene inside.

[Mellifera Crofter]

When you consider the volume of moisture a colony produces in winter, I don't think that sachets of silica would do a lot of good. Forty pounds of honey might release several gallons of water.

Do you have a problem? ..
G.

Thanks Gavin. I hope my hives don't have a damp problem - but I'll probably only find out in the spring when I open them. Last spring a few frames near the sides of the hive had some mould growing on them - not much. This is my first winter using polystyrene boxes. I'll compare them with the wooden hives.

Yes, I suppose thinking the sachets might help was a bit optimistic. Besides, the bees might start chewing at them.

K

[chris]

Last spring a few frames near the sides of the hive had some mould growing on them - not much.


This is often the case.Perhaps because they are near the side?There shouldn't be any brood on these frames when you do your first inspection, so if you like you can change them. I normally just cut out the mouldy bits with a knife (getting out all the mouldy pollen) and then let the bees get on with it. As Gavin says( he's obviously sobered up) it's the risk of water dripping down on the cluster that is to be avoided, and this is where good overhead insulation comes in.

[Adam]

If you're on an exposed hill in Aberdeenshire, I would have thought that the breeze would ensure that you don't get too much damp. Do you use open mesh floors or solid?

[Jimbo]

I have a mixture of solid and open mesh floors also wooden and polyhives. I have noticed that I only get a bit of damp in the outer frames on the solid floor wooden hives. I usually move my worst frames to the outside during the season so I just change the damp ones in the spring when I also change the floors

[Mellifera Crofter]

Thanks Chris, Adam, Jimbo. I don't think my hives have a damp problem - just that little bit of mould in the corners.

I do use open mesh floors, Adam, but with all these extremely fierce winds, I closed them (or partially closed them) as I feared the wind would find its way into the hives. On calmer days I pull the boards out a bit further to create more ventilation. I'm not sure that I'm doing the right thing. My instinct tells me I'm right - but relying on instinct is perhaps a bit dodgy.

On the other hand, I did notice wet patches on the plastic monitoring boards of the polystyrene hives. I suppose that these plastic underfloor boards are the coldest part the hives, and so condensation will form there. I hope it does not mean condensation is dripping down all the way from the roof. Correct me if I'm wrong.

Kitta

[Adam]

Kitta,
I recall reading that some put the OMF on an empty super to reduce the wind blowing around the bottom of the hive. My stands are generally quite heavy which would do the same sort of thing as a super under - see attached photo. My apiary is protected from East winds by a high hedge so I don't have too much of a problem. I am a polyhive virgin, this winter I have my first polyhive with bees in so I don't have any experience of them just yet.

884

[Jimbo]

Hi Adam,

I have also heard this and was going to place my scrap supers under the OMF but was worried about the gale force winds we are having as it is a bigger target for the wind. I might give it a go in the spring to see if the build up is any better

[Mellifera Crofter]

That looks like a very good stand, Adam. I think I'll make similar ones in future. My wooden hives are on top of empty supers. It's the polystyrene ones I'm more worried about as the floors stand on little pillars with gaps between them - see photo (taken in October).

I've tied my hives to the stands and the stands are weighted down with more stones. Might that be a solution for your hives, Jimbo?

886

[Rosie]

I stand all mine on 2 or 3 inch ekes to reduce the wind a bit. They are particularly handy in an out apiary as I can move the ekes to the top to provide room fer emergency fondant.

Rosie

[Adam]

Kitta,
My stands wewre made by scrap timber after our house was extended. I took all the wood out of the skip and stored it - much to the amusement of the builders.
The MB/Paradise floor you've shown looks like it will transport easily as you can get your fingers underneath to lift it. If yours is sililar to my one and only MB poly National, the mesh is not wall-to-wall and the mesh in mine is plastic with as much plastic as holes. It will give some ventillation - but not a gale - but 50% of the mites could land on the plastic and crawl back up!

[Easy beesy]

Hi all
In Lancs the standard over- wintering advice for national hives is to put a super below the brood for just that reason. We also strap to stand hoping wind won't be able to knock over the entire ensemble.
Eb

[chris]

I stand all mine on 2 or 3 inch ekes to reduce the wind a bit.


I guess it's like wearing a kilt with the hem below the knees rather than above:o