No, our bees take care of themselves in their normal position outdoors. We live just a few miles from the Atlantic coast and the Gulf Stream gives up the last of its heat when it hits the western side of the UK, so the worst our bees have to deal with is never much below 10°C.
Some beekeepers in some parts of the world do shift their colonies to winter grounds, and I'm sure the big US operations that hire their bees out for pollination do that, but I think the vast majority leave them in one place year-round. If you have the right equipment, it's not hard to move beehives and the bees themselves quickly orientate in new locations, but it is a considerable hassle.
There's a guy on one of the UK beekeeping forums who has very productive hives in Finland, where it obviously gets very chilly in the winter. As far as I can recall, he covers the hives in polystyrene insulation sheets and makes sure they have enough honey to get through the winter in October or something like that, and then leaves them alone until the snow melts back enough for him to get to them the following spring. Most beekeepers have winter loses - colonies that just don't survive for one of many possible reasons - but he seems to do reasonably well.
While the temperatures in places like the centre of the US and Canada aren't quite that extreme, winters can be harsh there too, and beekeepers generally leave their bees outside.
Actually, the consensus among beekeepers is that it isn't cold that can kill a well-stocked hive, but moisture. If there's condensation inside the hive - and there will be if the walls and roof are relatively chilly since the bees' respiration is constantly producing humid air - and the bees get wet, they don't cope with that very well at all.
I'm a great believer in well-ventilated hives, so all of our hives have mesh floors. That has worked well for us here as well as where we were in Italy where the winters were harsher than in the UK.
Wow. You're an interesting guy. Nice break from run-of-the-mill "my mother-in-law sucked my knob" kind of stuff. 50 cm of polystyrene foam will keep almost anything warm when it's -20° of low humidity arctic air. Solar heating may have possibilities. Sounds like you have an enjoyable retirement job.
IIN bees are cute
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Interesting, indeed. In the winter, do you keep the hives in place that can be heated to 55°F, 13°C then?
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Boojum
4 years ago
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No, our bees take care of themselves in their normal position outdoors. We live just a few miles from the Atlantic coast and the Gulf Stream gives up the last of its heat when it hits the western side of the UK, so the worst our bees have to deal with is never much below 10°C.
Some beekeepers in some parts of the world do shift their colonies to winter grounds, and I'm sure the big US operations that hire their bees out for pollination do that, but I think the vast majority leave them in one place year-round. If you have the right equipment, it's not hard to move beehives and the bees themselves quickly orientate in new locations, but it is a considerable hassle.
There's a guy on one of the UK beekeeping forums who has very productive hives in Finland, where it obviously gets very chilly in the winter. As far as I can recall, he covers the hives in polystyrene insulation sheets and makes sure they have enough honey to get through the winter in October or something like that, and then leaves them alone until the snow melts back enough for him to get to them the following spring. Most beekeepers have winter loses - colonies that just don't survive for one of many possible reasons - but he seems to do reasonably well.
While the temperatures in places like the centre of the US and Canada aren't quite that extreme, winters can be harsh there too, and beekeepers generally leave their bees outside.
Actually, the consensus among beekeepers is that it isn't cold that can kill a well-stocked hive, but moisture. If there's condensation inside the hive - and there will be if the walls and roof are relatively chilly since the bees' respiration is constantly producing humid air - and the bees get wet, they don't cope with that very well at all.
I'm a great believer in well-ventilated hives, so all of our hives have mesh floors. That has worked well for us here as well as where we were in Italy where the winters were harsher than in the UK.
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McBean
4 years ago
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Wow. You're an interesting guy. Nice break from run-of-the-mill "my mother-in-law sucked my knob" kind of stuff. 50 cm of polystyrene foam will keep almost anything warm when it's -20° of low humidity arctic air. Solar heating may have possibilities. Sounds like you have an enjoyable retirement job.