To fight heat loss, this is what I have been doing.
I am in Zone 7, so I do not wrap my bees in winter and they are on SBB year round--except for spring buildup.
When the bees start brood rearing, usually in January, I wrap mine minimally with a black plastic bag with a vent hole, SBB now closed Later when the weather becomes mild enough not to worry about the moisture build up, I cover up the vent, as well, to keep the moisture in. I use 55 gallon black plastic trash bags and cover the hives UNDER the telescoping cover as the bag is too small to accommodate the outer cover.
There are 66 gallon, thick plastic bags, as well, which can "swallow" even the telescoping cover. I love those, as you can double them up, increasing the R value. When feeding, I can peel down the 55 gallon plastic bags, which can be a pain in the neck, or I can lift off the 66 gallon bags--with ease. Over the years, I learned to prefer the latter as it allows a quick removal for feeding and offers a thicker R-vale. Sometimes I fold it over to cover the northern wall of the hive as the big bag has room to spare.
Under the telescoping cover, I use recycled egg-crate mattress topper, about two inches thick. These toppers, cut to fit inside the telescoping cover with a center vent square hole, stay there year round.
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