I have found that a weak colony will benefit from additional heat. To incubate
brood and to maintain a healthy temperature requires that each bee contributes
thermal units to the hive. In the event that the cluster is small, the heat
required of each bee to maintain incubation temp over the brood area is
increased for each individual, leaving the hive under stress. The stress will
require each bee to attempt unusually high shivering activity, or the bees
will succumb to cold stress. Either way, a small thermostatically controlled
heat source can make up for lost biomass of bees and reduce the stress on the
remaining bees. The thermostat should be set to allow the bees to maintain a
normal level of heat by themselves, but failing that, the low temperature
heating pad will assist in temperature maintenance.
This approach will not "imbalance" the bee, nor create a weaker bee. The
additional heat should not be continuous, but only on demand. When the bees
are unable to maintain appropriate temperatures and become dormant, the air
will not circulate well in the hive, humidity builds and other problems begin
building and stressing the bees. A small amount of heat underneath the bottom
board will cause an updraft of air, and if there is a ventilation outlet at
the top, the circulation of air will keep humidity levels within an acceptable range.
My assumption is that we are often keeping bees in an environment that they
were not genetically equipped to thrive in. In order to aid them in their
survival and propagation, we sometimes must adjust their environments to
become closer to that of their indigenous environs.
I, therefore, make Alaska seem more like southern California. I've found that
when I assist them too much, (adding optimum continual heat rather than
minimal controlled heat) they will come out of the hive and freeze in the
outdoors. So thermostatic control is important. If set just to the minimum
level of healthy survival, they are not "fooled" into thinking it is summer
outside the hive.

Steve Andison
<BR>Alaska Resource Economic Development (ARED)
<BR>(907) 790-2111
<BR>Fax: 907-790-1929
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