Quilts
Bees like to live in tree trunks in cold climates. They are well insulated and like to be high, dry and well protected.
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In the winter cluster, bees will eat upwards using the heat of the cluster to warm the honey above them. This makes it easier for them to uncap the honey.
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According to Torben Schiffer, excess water vapor can move upwards through the propolis layer into the wood above the hive. But when the moisture condenses, it cannot move through the propolis layer back into the hive. So the wood above a honeybee nest absorbs the moisture from a cluster in winter time. And we know that wet bees are dead bees.
So, when possible, I try to build a honeybee hives that mimics how they live in the wild.
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Having a quilt filled with wood chips above the bees in winter time absorbs excess moisture .... the same as if they lived inside a tree trunk.
How to build quilts:
Functions:
1. To absorb moisture from the cluster during the winter time.
2. Allows me to feed honey to honeybees if needed without lots of heat loss.
1. Build the quilt to the the right height and dimensions so that it sits on top of the honeybees. See picture 5 below for a modification to this design. A honey feeder was added.
2. Attach cotton fabric to bottom of the quilt box.
3. I fill the quilt box with Roxul insulation spring, summer and fall. The honeybees can ventilate out the excess moisture at these times of the year.
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Also, the insulation above the honeybees makes it easier on the honeybees year round.
4. I have added a space to feed honey to the bees during winter time. It is a fairly small hole, thus not letting out tons of heat. It sits on top of 6 frames.
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You can see the 6 wood risers. They are high enough to allow honeybees to get under the bottles to feed easily.
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5. I use 200 mL bottles from the dollar store. They sit well in a 3.5" tall quilt box. I use a thumb tack and hammer to poke holes into the lid. Easy and fast to install during winter time, if needed.
6. The 6 wood risers are placed on top of a frame and left in all winter long. This saves me time and them heat when/if install honey for feed.
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How to know if your honeybees need to be fed?
If you take a boo inside this area and see bees there, they are looking for food.
7. I place a piece of cotton on top of the wooden riser. This is what I look under during winter to see if there are bees hanging around near the top.
8. A cotton pouch to stuff with wood chips. Cotton is used as much as possible since it absorbs moisture from the hive too.
9. Quilt is filled with wood chips. Pouch is closed.
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So when I need to take a boo at the hive. I pull out the pouch, peel back the fabric over the wooden risers and look for bees.
10. This is how the hive looks going into winter. Any empty space under the quilts where there are no bees get a bag of Roxul insulation. No need for the bees to heat extra space.
Enjoy working with your honeybees.
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Anything we can do to keep them warm and dry allows the honeybees to do what they know from 30 million years of practice.
