Bees in a tree are sealed into a cavity that often is down-sized by the bees with propolis to the point that only 1-2 bees can pass through at a time, so I don't much worry about bottom ventilation. A colleague of mine specialized in studying animals that leave in confined spaces (bees, burrowing owls, etc.). They all have and are adapted to hive CO2 levels - there's every reason to believe that's what works best for them.
My hives are all on sawhorse stands - it makes it easier on our backs AND it makes sure that the skunks (lots of them since all of our sites are in or near river riparian areas) can't get to the entrances to feed on bees. So my hive entrances don't get blocked by deep snow - unless we get a very unusual year.
If any hives are left on ground, I will add a small top entrance so that the bees can get out when we have deep snow.
My preference is a small, horizontal notch just under a cover or wrap which is extended out forward a bit past the notch - This acts like a porch roof and tends to leave an open void if snow buries the hives The roof is often as simple as stapling
This porch roof is often as simple as stapling the roofing felt wrap around entrance/eixt hole so bees don't crawl down and get trapped btw wrap and box, and then adding a scrap of felt, stapled on as a roof over the entrance/exit hole.
If I think I may have to feed during the winter, I'll push all the hives together in lines, wrap the whole bundle by running the felt horizontally to encircle the whole group. I'll fold the excess felt over the top and just put a couple staples in to keep the flaps down, but still easy to pull and pop open. Then I finish with an end to end run of roofing felt over the hives to make a roof over the whole bundle, letting the excess width hang over the front and back of the hive group like a floppy roof. If there's too much overhand, I just trim it off - don't want so much that the wind get under and rips back.
I'm not too fussy about how to reduce the entrances - I leave maybe a 1/2 to 3/4 gap in one of the outside corners - rather than center. If I've got them, I may use entrance reducer strips that you buy from supply house - but I'm cheap and these tend to break and get lost. I may put a strip of metal hardware cloth screen over the entrance to keep mice and other animals from either eating through the wrap to get in or from manually pushing, dislodging them closure strips. I don't use the screen for ventilation but to keep out mice. Brian Rogers of Great Falls uses the perforated metal corner strips contractors use for mudding in sheetrock corners. Really cheap, comes in long strips, not as breezy as screen, but serves the purpose..
Since my hives are on elevated stands, I let excess felt hang down past the bottom of the hives, but don't use too many staples, let it hand loose - so that some air can flow in and out - it's my version of the leaky hive - just set it up so the air has to make some bends to keep wind from having a direct flow into the bottom of the hive. The only place I use staples is around the entrance/exit holes - I don't want those bees getting trapped under the wrap.
More years than not, my go to entrance reducer is a bundle of 1 1/2" x 1/8" x 4 ft softwood lath or strapping or set up a table saw to cut 1/8" strips from the edge of a common 2x4 pine/fir stud. I cut the length to 1/2 or 3/4 shorter than the width of the bottom entrance of the hive - tack the strip over the entrance with tacks, nail at each end, or staples. Cheap, works well.
***********************************************
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
|
