Mike Wrote:
Kirk, Do I understand that you put the reflectix right over the 
frames(under the lid) ? How well does this work with migratory lids? Did
 you remove the reflectix before trucking the bees out, or can it stay 
on? Thanks.Merry Christmas to all!---Mike in N Cal where we have just 
been buried in snow.   lines.htm
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Hi Mike,
Yes, we do put the reflectix bubble wrap under migratory lids(flush fitting waxed plywood). But...not for general use all year. Only when we are raising queens for cell builders and the mating nuc, which are three way deeps, do we use the reflectix. 
When we did winter in the north, we tried straw on top of 4 way pallets with black plastic bags with vents in them to release moisture. Then we tried reflectix with the bags. All seemed to help. We don't drill holes in our boxes however. And we have all our bees raised 3/4 of an inch off the bottom. I thought that 3/8 of an inch was too tight and restricted air flow under the clusters. I always thought it was more important to have some circulation under the hive. That's me. When you get bees dropping out of the cluster and then snow and ice building up on the dead bees, the whole shabang gets plugged up. The upper top never fits all that well and I don't think it's necessary to drill holes in the boxes. That said, we gave up trying to winter up north. Why? The bees take a spanking and we are doing so much better now. We decided to make a life style change and have gone south every winter since about '93. Right now the bees on the gulf coast are cranking
 up and some need a third box. Our best hives are in Michigan ready to ship west. 

Go with the flow.

Kirk Jones

Sleeping Bear Farms   beekeepers making honey...
St. Ambrose Meadery/Winery- sister business of Sleeping Bear
Benzie Playboys           cajun and zydeco band........
Beekeeping Journal Blog   thoughts on beekeeping
Facebook for Kirk
Facebook for the Benzie Playboys           

             ***********************************************
The BEE-L mailing list is powered by L-Soft's renowned
LISTSERV(R) list management software.  For more information, go to:
http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html

Guidelines for posting to BEE-L can be found at:
http://honeybeeworld.com/bee-l/guidelines.htm