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Date: | Wed, 9 Dec 2020 12:18:47 -0500 |
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I mainly only want to second Dick's post but add a bit of my own experience.
At 47N 2100' in eastern WA we have long cold but mostly dry winters. Several months below freezing and several weeks below 0 F (-18 c). My winter configuration after much experimentation is double deeps (all wood no insulation) on solid bottoms, bottom entrance reduced to 3/8 X 6", a 1/4 shim on the rear above the inner cover below a telescoping lid. Inner covers have a 2 1/2" dia, hole to facilitate my top bucket feeders. I make sure that all colonies have at least 12 deep frames of honey in mid Oct. To my knowledge I have never lost a colony to cold with this set-up. I preach that the best insulation is honey in the comb. No winter candy or other feeding. Give them what they need in the fall and they will put it where thy want it and save you a lot of grief. Of course they must have low mite counts early enough to make a generation of winter bees and no other debilitating health issues.
A number of years back during a similar discussion of insulating for winter I ran a experiment where I wrapped ( 30# building felt) and put 1" foam tops above the inner and below the telescoping on 50 colonies and left 50 as configured above in my home location. Survival was normal in both groups. If memory serves around 10% loss but none due to starvation or cold. What I did see is considerable mold on the outer frames in the insulated hives due I presume to insufficient ventilation. It seems to me that if there is adequate air exchange to eliminate condensation on the outer frames it will negate any benefit of insulating. Sort of like leaving a window open in your super insulated home. My take away was the insulating for winter is not worth the expense or effort in my location.
Paul Hosticka
Dayton WA
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