Ian Watson wrote.
>Well, its that time of year.  And since all my bees died last winter I
>thought I might ask the lists what the best way to insulate their hives
>for the winter, since this may have been my problem.
>What I was planning to do was place an empty super over (or under?) the
>inner cover and fill it with something....maybe straw?....Well.that is
>what I would like to know.  I know they need ventilation during the
>winter to get rid of moisture, and I just popped an outer cover and there
>is already drops of water on the inner cover....
 
This is a question which keeps coming back to haunt us.
        The biggest problem is drying out the hive and like most advice
always starts weeks or months before you need it! All summer long the inside
of the hive is soaking up moisture, come the winter it starts to condense on
the colder surfaces. At this time of the year it is necessary to give an
outlet to the outside. We do this by providing a top entrance and then
covering the openings in the inner cover with something *waterproof* to
prevent it soaking up the respiration. This is to prevent water vapour
saturating, freezing and eventually dripping back into the cluster.
        A final wrap of black tar paper, in a couple of weeks, when it gets
really cold. That helps to keep snow melt from soaking into the wood work,
and also warms the hive slightly on sunny days. This helps the bees move to
more and higher stores.
        As always there are many, many ways of doing things, but this has
been our basic approach for many years.
 
 
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