Quilt Boxes ?

[yukonjeff]

I am wondering if any of you Ca. beekeeps use them ? I used one last year and it kept my deadout nice and dry

Also what size upper entrance do you use and is that your only ventilation ?

Thanks

[apisbees]

Did it contribute to the hive becoming a dead out? More insulation = warmer bees. Warmer bees = more brood raised earlier. More brood = more food consumption. More food consumption = dead hive due to starvation. More insulation helps especially in cold climates with a long winter, but their are trade offs.

[yukonjeff]

I was a first year bee keep, I don't think they had taken enough stores to make it to Thanksgiving and didn't eat much of the sugar brick and starved in short order.

I wont use one if I don't need to, I was wondering how you Canadians keep your hive dry/alive over winter. I would also like to hear about your ventilation of your hives and wrapping as well.

[apisbees]

I have a 1/4" by 1" notch in the wood of the inner cover frame. That is placed notch side down with a piece of Styrofoam insulation 1" and thicker, what ever I have. Cur the same size of the hive. I do not wrap the sides as I do not want the bees building up to early in the spring. Keep in mind that I live in an area of Canada that has the mildest winters. Close to what Jen endures in Northren California. Up there I would wrap the sides.

"didn't eat much of the sugar brick and starved in short order" As I posted in your nuc thread In cold climates sugar bricks are hard for the bees to turn into usable feed.

[Barbarian]

Can you describe what you mean by a quilt box ?

[Perry]

I used bee cozies for a couple of years and then threw them out. Too much insulation prevents the solar gain those few sunny days in January and Fegruary provide for the bees to shift onto fresh stores.

[apisbees]

But if the solar gain heats the hive to soon and the bees start raising brood, It can cause the bees to stay on the brood and not move to stay on the receding food supply. Perry also is in a climate that it has worst winters than I get he gets an earlier spring than prairie and northern beekeepers. A Warm January February followed by 2 weeks of cold weather in march causes the most winter losses here.

[Mikey N.C.]

That's exactly what I'm trying to learn here in the south US,
We can have a warm February then temps. can drop and have 2 weeks of ice (sleet)

[apisbees]

In the south the bees seem to be able to get enough from the sugar blocks and convert it into usable food for themselves. In northern climates where the humidity is lower Because of the temperature much of the needed moisture the bees need to dissolve the sugar is frozen so the air is dryer.

[yukonjeff]

I am thinking like Perry said, too much insulation and a warm day comes along where they can get a cleansing flight in, and they are inside of a insulated freezer.

I used a quilt box and foam board last year, and was disheartened to realize it would be too well insulated to take advantage of the few rare warm spells we got.

So this year I am leaving the front open, (I think) or wrap a thin material for wind chill protection and hope my black painted hives give them enough solar gain to make it.

I think with the bigger hives I have now, the condensation might keep the sugar brick damp on the bottom enough to liquefy a bit and act as a absorbent at the same time.

Thanks guys, still kicking it all around in my head yet.

Barbarian,  quilt box is a medium super, filled with wood shavings (cloth on the bottom ) to absorb moisture ,placed on top the hive over winter.

[riverbee]

jeff,
this is how i winter bees:

1.  2 deeps wrapped in colony quilt from b and b honey farm
2.  entrance reducer on at 3 inches
3.  2" feeding rim/shim on to add sugar bricks
4.  inner cover over the feeding rim; inner covers have a 2 inch opening (or so....... ) cut out for bee flight/ventilation
5.  insulation box over the top of the inner cover that holds 2 inches of pink insulation
     (ps.  in the past i have used a 'quilt box' with clean straw packed in an extra super placed on top of the inner cover over the hives. it works. i have
     not used  shavings.)
6.  outer cover on top the insulation box

sugar bricks..........these work very well for me, the bees 'process' the sugar just fine............and i am in a very cold climate.
thread here on sugar bricks:

SUGAR BRICKS

i place the sugar bricks directly on top of the frames of the second deep, the feeder rim gives the room for the bricks and the bees seem to like this extra space to cluster.

[yukonjeff]

Thanks Riverbee
That's is about how I plan to set mine up this winter. Much appreciated !

[riverbee]

you are welcome jeff. i think it is beneficial to add whatever feed directly on top the frames, rather than using a candy board.  imho, this is a barrier and the bees cannot move up into that barrier and cluster. if we have healthy bees, and a healthy bee population going into winter months, also appropriate stores for our locations, doesn't give us a guarantee they will make it, but have had much success with this method.  in recent years for me, adding the rim with extra feed for extra insurance or the ability to add emergency feed works great for me.  i can pop the lid and inner cover and quickly add feed inside the rim without disturbing the cluster.