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Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues and Bee Biology

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From:
Bill Hesbach <[log in to unmask]>
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Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues and Bee Biology <[log in to unmask]>
Date:
Fri, 18 Aug 2017 10:04:33 -0400
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Constructive beekeeping” by Ed Clarke written in 1918

After I read this book I built one of the "condensing" hive body that's described in the text - I haven't run it yet.  The book influenced my thinking about how a winter cluster manages moister and I've stopped providing additional winter ventilation. I expected the colonies to die in a wet ball but none did.  If you begin to think of a colony in terms of how the moister condenses on the inside surfaces and how bees can harvest that moister, it makes a lot of sense that they have evolved to depend on condensation.  I think one can run a colony as a condenser or a ventilator just keeping in mind that with lots of ventilation a colony will need lots of stores.  The opposite is also true, a condensing colony, like a natural tree cavity, will require fewer stores. I think the following papers are helpful on the subject - there's also more recent work. 


Charles D. Owens  THE THERMOLOGY OF WINTERING HONEY BEE COLONIES  
http://www.beesource.com/resources/usda/the-thermology-of-wintering-honey-bee-colonies/

Wedmore, E. B. 1947. The Ventilation of Bee-Hives. Lewis Press, Sussex, United Kingdom. Pages 22-23. 

Kraus B, Velthuis HHW. 1997. High humidity in the honey bee (Apis mellifera L.) brood nest limits reproduction of the parasitic mite Varroa jacobsoni Oud. Naturwissenschaften 84:217–18 

Bill Hesbach
Cheshire CT 

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