Moldy Covers

[The15thMember]

I have alluded to this issue before, but I'm now at the point where I've tried a bunch of different things and nothing is working consistently, so I thought I'd toss it to the crowd for ideas. 

I constantly have trouble with mold of various species growing in between my inner and outer covers.  I seem to have less mold problems with migratory covers, since there is no space the bees don't have easy access to, but it happens occasionally with them too.  The mold is usually white or green, occasionally black, but only if I let the situation progress too far without a cleaning.  I have tried more ventilation and I've tried minimal ventilation.  Obviously I clean the tops with vinegar, or if it's really bad, I bleach the cover and repaint it, but it just comes right back after a month or two.  Is there anything else I can be doing to deter mold growth?

[iddee]

Try to find a dryer, better air flow location for the hives.

[The15thMember]

Try to find a dryer, better air flow location for the hives.

I figured someone would say that.  I'm sure that would help, and I am in the shade, but I don't really have anywhere else to put them.  And to be honest, even if I could move them, I might prefer dealing with the mold to working the hives in the sun.   

[iddee]

The small hive beetles will totally love you for the shade. They hate sunlight.

[The15thMember]

The small hive beetles will totally love you for the shade. They hate sunlight.

You know, I can't understand it, but I don't have too much trouble with beetles.  I mean, sure I've had weak hives get a frame or two slimed before I caught the problem, but I never see more than one or two in my strong hives, and I've never had even a weak hive totally overrun with them.  Maybe my soil PH isn't what they like or something. 

[iddee]

That's good. I hope it continues. If you have chickens free ranging around them, that may help, too.

[Bakersdozen]

I read this with interest.  I have had a mold issue in the past but I can't recall if it was the inner cover or telescoping lid and it was only one colony.  The colony setting next to it was fine.
I have to agree with everything iddee has mentioned.  I wonder if putting a popsicle stick or something similar between the inner and outer cover, along the lip, would help.  I do the popsicle trick in winter, particularly if the inner cover doesn't have a notch in it.
iddee suggested a location with lots of air movement. Are you hives located in a low lying area? 

[The15thMember]

Are you hives located in a low lying area?

No, but they are at the edge of a forest, so the ground is fairly damp, and it's shaded in the summer, although not in the winter when the leaves are down.  They are actually on the edge of a steep drop off behind our garage, which is sort of built into the side of a hill.  When I'm in the apiary, I'm looking out over the roof of the garage. 

I have to agree with everything iddee has mentioned.  I wonder if putting a popsicle stick or something similar between the inner and outer cover, along the lip, would help.  I do the popsicle trick in winter, particularly if the inner cover doesn't have a notch in it.
iddee suggested a location with lots of air movement.

I do use screened inner covers sometimes.  I got them expressly to try and help with mold.  I was hoping they would take care of it, and honestly now that I'm thinking about it, I'm not sure I tried cleaning the tops and then adding the covers, I may have just added the screened covers and hoped that would kill the mold.  I'm going to do some more controlled experimenting with my different equipment and see what I find.   

[Jen]

Hi 15th, say, have you considered a quilt box for your hives? I use them every winter with great success at keeping the mold and dampness out of the hive/colony boxes. They aren't needed here thru the summer. Here are some photos of the boxes that I get from a bee friend who makes them for me. To be honest, I'm not convinced that the baffles on the outside are necessary. You can get the same kind of boxes from Mann Lake. And here is a link to how to slap some quilt boxes together  So, the only thing you would have to do is change out the burlap or wood shavings or straw. You would prob have to check on the every couple weeks.

[The15thMember]

Hi 15th, say, have you considered a quilt box for your hives? I use them every winter with great success at keeping the mold and dampness out of the hive/colony boxes. They aren't needed here thru the summer. Here are some photos of the boxes that I get from a bee friend who makes them for me. To be honest, I'm not convinced that the baffles on the outside are necessary. You can get the same kind of boxes from Mann Lake. And here is a link to how to slap some quilt boxes together  So, the only thing you would have to do is change out the burlap or wood shavings or straw. You would prob have to check on the every couple weeks.

I do use quilt boxes over the winter, and I love them.  But I did find out this spring, sort of accidentally, that they make mold worse when it's warm out.  We had our last real cold snap followed immediately by warm wet weather, and I wasn't able to remove the moisture quilts immediately, and when I finally got to them, some were VERY moldy.  That was one of the reasons I just cleaned and repainted some of my tops. 

[Gypsi]

I am seeing a little mold on the edges of some of my inner covers this year, probably due to migratory covers that are due for either replacement or a good sealing paint job, and we got a little rain, something we don't always get.   Where it's at the bees aren't getting in it, I think I took a swipe with a bleachy rag and wiped it off. I don't feed much, so it isn't where the feed goes thru the migratory cover to the inner cover. It's near the front or back edge where the 1x2 slips down over the box.

[LazyBkpr]

moisture on the inner cover is the same as fogging a window when you breathe on it. warm moisture in the hive. If the inner cover is the same temp as the hive it will not condense as much, Insulate that particular inner cover and see if it goes away!   This is why we put foam on top of the inner cover in the winter, so that the condensation does not gather, and drip back on the cluster, possibly killing them.
   Best suggestion I can come up with on short notice!

[rober]

do your inner covers have a hole in the center? if not, make a hole. you can also try making a notch in the top outer rail at the front of the cover. the bees will use it as a 2nd entrance & it creates an exhaust vent for moisture to escape. if you ever need to close that entrance just slide the outer cover back against the hive body. all my inner covers are notched. in the winter i put a piece of 1" foil faced foam insulation on top of the inner cover with the foil facing down. before i retired my smoker i was averaging. 5% winter losses.

[The15thMember]

do your inner covers have a hole in the center? if not, make a hole. you can also try making a notch in the top outer rail at the front of the cover. the bees will use it as a 2nd entrance & it creates an exhaust vent for moisture to escape. if you ever need to close that entrance just slide the outer cover back against the hive body. all my inner covers are notched. in the winter i put a piece of 1" foil faced foam insulation on top of the inner cover with the foil facing down. before i retired my smoker i was averaging. 5% winter losses.

All my solid inner covers have holes.  One doesn't have a notch, which I think may have just been an accident, since another one that I purchased at the same time did have a notch. 

The mold has been better as the summer has progressed.  Due to other factors, I wasn't able to experiment as scientifically as I would have liked, but most of the colonies have reached some sort of equilibrium, where some do have some mold, but it's no longer getting worse.  Some colonies seem to be doing better with more ventilation, and some colonies with less.  In my location, it just may be the kind of thing where each colony and hive location is going to be different, and it will just require adjusting to hit a moving target every year, rather than finding the one thing that works every time.