Hi Chris Peter & All

I Have two experiences with Bee Cozies both negative.  A friend was in hospital at hive wrapping time so I offered to pack his bees for him.  While it got easier by the time I got to the 10th hive, bee cozies proved how inept I am. They are as easy to put on as socks on your feet except socks stretch.  Another friend needed help removing his Bee Cozies a few years later.  The help he needed was that it was a 2 person job because the insulation had become soaked with water and were very heavy.  They dripped for days when hung of bushes or fences nearby.

My small apiary contains two groups of hives; one in full sun the other in a cedar bush with filtered sunlight.  The winter of 2017/18 had many sunny periods but also had extreme cold overnight(-20C) shortly afterwards.  I believe that the hives in the sun broke cluster then were caught out with the cold. All of the sun hives died except one whereas the shaped hives all survived except one.  The shaded hives(100 ft from the others) always produce as much or more honey than those in the sun.

Bob Darrell
Caledon Ontario
Canada
44N80W

PS: Hope to see many Bee-L posters in Montreal for Apimondia!

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