Ventilation

Itchy said:

Ever seen a wild colony happily living with anything other than a small opening for getting in and out?

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Yes, on several occasions.

But then you've probably seen more than most. The exceptions that prove the rule?

masterBK said:

derekm: Bees prosper best if they can create a temperature of 34C.
Surely during winter without brood present ( 2 months up here in the north) they won't need or attempt to maintain 34 C.

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if wedmore's theories expoused in his 1947 book were right then the polyhives used all over northern europe would not be so succesful, Talk to ITLD about his result using poly feeders as winter insulation

MuswellMetro said:

if wedmore's theories expoused in his 1947 book were right

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But then his theories were rubbished not long after the book was published (He did no experimentation to proove his theories BTW) but people still blindly follow his warped ideas

jenkinsbrynmair said:

But then his theories were rubbished not long after the book was published (He did no experimentation to proove his theories BTW) but people still blindly follow his warped ideas

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Entire continents of them

Why aren't you all tucked up nice and warm like your bees , I have an excuse what's yours


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MuswellMetro said:

if wedmore's theories expoused in his 1947 book were right ...

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I haven't read it. Would you be able to give a brief description of the relevant wrong theories (or does that call for a new thread)?

Madge said:

I haven't read it. Would you be able to give a brief description of the relevant wrong theories (or does that call for a new thread)?

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Wedmores ventilation of hives publication summarises as follows:
Damp is bad, adequate insulation impossible/impractical so give none , ventilate top and bottom.

@pigletwillie . Sorry to be obvious, but you have Apiguard in and thus (in theory) the varroa floor in as well. That was out during the period you mention, right?

air flow and ventilation in Langstroth

http://www.uoguelph.ca/canpolin/Pub...al 2011 flow currents in Langstroth hives.pdf

tresallier said:

air flow and ventilation in Langstroth

http://www.uoguelph.ca/canpolin/Pub...al 2011 flow currents in Langstroth hives.pdf

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it assumes the hive walls are insulating... i.e. perfectly insulating. Not very common occurance.
see section 3.4
"For the energy equation, the inside walls of the beehive and
the parts of the frames not covered by honeybees are assumed to
be insulated"

The study is confined to " Flow currents and ventilation in Langstroth beehives due to brood
thermoregulation efforts of honeybees".

Currents due to cooling through the hive walls are not considered.

The hives are not Langstroth. We are the UK, not Canada. Do they use OMFs as the majority do (now) over here?

All the OP needs to know is if on OMF, top ventilation is a no-no. Even if on solid floors, I would arrange for ventilation at floor level (with appropriate precautions) and not at the top.

There are a number of errors in the text, but I have not bothered to go further than about page six. Not the sort of simple advice publication for a relative beginner.

Oh, and top insulation between crown board and roof is the other best advice. Heat loss costs stores at the very least.

tresallier said:

http://www.beesource.com/resources/usda/the-thermology-of-wintering-honey-bee-colonies/

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I have also looked at this in detail on a number of occasions and looked at the full version with all the graphs.

1) No attempt was made at quantitive measurement of the thermal conductivity of the check hives or the "packed"

2) the low elevation of the temperature of the packed hive suggests it was nowhere near enough to allow the bees to control the temperatures in the hive.

3)The most cited conclusion " Honey bees make no attempt to maintain the temperature in the domicile outside the winter cluster." is curious as if they did attempt this impossible feat they would die. This conclusion reduces down to "The bees chose not to die."
The feat of producing enough energy to heat the poorly insulated boxes to ensure unclustered survival is outside of the ability of the bees.