Bill Truesdell offered:
> James Fischer wrote:
>> So, if winters are mild where you keep bees, you don't need to worry
>> much about the temperature, which is the crux of the "ventilate versus
>> insulate" discussion at hand. If winter is much colder than described
>> above one is forced to lean towards "insulate" over "ventilate".
>>
> Opinion: I think you leapt from fact to opinion. The Hive and the Honey
> Bee....
> ...So "ventilate" seems to be a constant while "insulate" is a variable.
> The H&THB also states that trials using additional insulation in colder
> climates caused poorer over wintering. So more insulation is not
> necessarily better.
Just as you did directly above, I attempted to apply the "facts" to the situation
at hand, which must be admitted to be "opinion", or at least a presumption.
But, the original question had to do specifically with inner covers on hives with
screened bottom boards, rather than "insulating the whole hive", as addressed
by your H&THB quote. I was trying to create some sort of rational segue
between (my) "mild climate" approach
where I suggested that the inner cover not only
have at least one upper entrance notched into it,
but the inner cover ALSO have additional ventilation
in the form of "screened windows" to improve airflow
above that possible with the "standard" inner cover.
...and the "far north" approach, where multiple people advocated insulated
inner covers, homosite boards, et al.
To me, this seems a clear engineering trade-off between stressing ventilation
above all else, and adding things that clearly would prevent the "extra" ventilation
I suggested. Again, let me stress that we were focused on inner covers alone.
You see, Allen Dick is "right", for his climate. He has to be "right", or he would
not have the overwinter survival rates he has. Allen does all this:
http://www.internode.net/HoneyBee/Diary/2000/Diary120100.htm#Winter%20Wraps%20
George Imirie is also "right", for his climate, for exactly the same reason. (I'm gonna
pick George as the straw man for "southern", simply because I can include a link to
his "Pink Pages" to document his strategies):
http://www.beekeeper.org/george_imirie/
But, there is much that is "contradictory" in the two approaches. If one accepts both
approaches as "optimal for the conditions", one is left with the obvious conclusion that
an apiary located somewhere between the two would require overwintering strategies
that are somewhere between the two.
As one travels northward between the two points (roughly 39 degrees and 51
degrees North), one reaches your location in Maine - a "midpoint" between
the two at about 44 degrees North. Now you yourself said only days ago:
"Homosoate is the material many of us use in Maine
(it is the stuff in some ceiling tiles). It is cut to the
dimensions of an inner cover and notched so it
provides both ventilation and an upper bee exit."
So, you provide only the upper entrance itself for ventilation and block the
standard hole in the inner cover with the homosoate board, providing less
ventilation than the "southern" case, yet you do not wrap and insulate your
hives as Allen does.
It looks to me like you ARE "leaning towards 'insulate' over 'ventilate' on
the issue on inner covers. Yes, I think it is clear that some ventilation
is a constant requirement, and perhaps an upper entrance provides the
"minimum" ventilation required.
But south of you, we "southerners" ventilate MORE. North of you, Allen
insulates MORE. Shucks, I think it is pretty clear that we have a
progression here. I think it is also clear that it is a trade-off between
"extra ventilation" and "extra insulation", given that all hives need some
ventilation, and all hives provide some insulation as a starting point.
jim
farmageddon (37 degrees North of the equator,
and still T-shirt weather on 10/16/01 !!)
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