Insulate or Ventilate, Making Sense of Northern Honeybee Wintering Practice” with Adrian Quiney

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Adrian’s ‘Northern Nuc System’ has aided him in successful honeybee management over many seasons in the harsh northern climate of Wisconsin. He continues to evaluate his honeybee colonies as incubators for high overwintering prosperity and how ventilation and insulation play integral roles in wintering practices for beekeepers. He will teach us his observations and experiences as he continues down this intriguing journey of man vs. nature!

[etiennetardif]

Thanks for the mention... I actually speak Japanese too :) I am very happy my observations are helpful. I just purchased a LoRaWan CO2 sensor kit that I will hopefully be installing next week. The bees in the dead of winter seem to breath. I can confirm heat is released/generated at pretty regular intervals. My hypothesis is that they are likely also managing CO2 levels. My goal is to understand the breathing cycle from a CO2 perspective. The sensor will be just above the cluster centre. CO2 is known to increase winter mite kill and is a calming agent on the cluster (torpor). These heating events also tend to create condensation events within the hive enclosure, however the condensate is at 15 to 20C temperatures (drinkable and decent for humidifying the air). Very cold air is very dry. This breathing increases the local internal temperatures which will naturally increase natural convection air movement when it is required.

[arcticbeekeeping]

Good presentation! I keep my bees in the arctic at 68°C north and I use a lot of insulation. I do not ventilate and I don’t see the point of it. I feel the bees tells us that they don’t like openings I the hive by close all of them with propolis. I want my bees to keep the heat they produce and by using insulation, the bees makes a heatpocket in the upper part of the hive. I haven’t lost a hive in the winter and it’s thanks to the well insulated system I use 😊

[reneefarber]

Hey Adrian: @7:49 it is "Lüneburg" or "Lueneburg" translates as Luene-Castle -- not: Luneberg. The vast heath cultural landscape stems from the medieval ages cutting woods for large pans filled with NaCl brine from underground over fire, producing valuable table salt. Consecutively late season heath honey skep beekeeping flourished.

[toddknecht]

Hello, thank you for your efforts! I’m in NE Pennsylvania latitude 42.9
A quick description of my winter set up.
Ten frame deep 3/4” entrance full width, I use 3/8” hardware cloth for mice.
I use inner covers with hole in center (normal)
On top of that a two inch layer of blue styrofoam with 6- 7/8” holes drilled across the back edge vertically.
I use telescopic covers with a hole 3/4” hole in front, on the inside of cover I attached 5/8”x3/4” pine around outer edge and front where hole is I tipped up pine to the 3/4” way as to allow more ventilation.
My personal theory is the moist air doesn’t condense until it contacts outer cover hence dripping on top of styrofoam. I feed sugar syrup after I remove supers(9/15) .
I put AP-23 Pattie’s on mid November, December and January then switch to pollen sub pattie in February.
I’m only in my 4th year and while I only had 4 colonies the second year and 6 the third year I haven’t lost any colonies, going into winter year 23/24 I have 13 colonies.
I’ve contemplated insulating sides of boxes but due to my success rate I’m hesitant!
Thank you again, Todd

[lenturtle]

The problem with indoors in central sask winter is 6 months and bees need cleansing flights so you take them out in march and the night temperatures get down to -8 or lower which chills brood .

[lenturtle]

Indoor wintering in northern climes is difficult because the bees need cleansing flights
A late oct to late to mid march indoors is a long time without a bathroom break

[Johnkels]

Thank you for a very informative presentation. I am in South East England this is my first year insulating due to losses last year as many others from a very cold snowy fortnight producing large amounts of condensation in the hives, dont take the tops off as we are always told. I do now. The common denominator the temp in the hive for survival. What is the optimum winter temp to keep the bees content and not eat too many stores to keep warm.. I would say about 70f. 20c or just below. Thank you

[auroraglacialis]

How does the climate in winter of Wisconsin compare to Southern Bavaria? That's where I live and I don't use insulation or active ventilation but an open grid bottom in wooden hives in winter. I usually have very few winter losses, mostly due to small population, varroa or queen failure resulting in workers laying eggs, often this is due to queens being older than 2 years. I assume Wisconsin is a lot colder and has more subarctic climate like Finland?

[lenturtle]

R value of 10 inches of wood is R7 so for a warm tree it would need to be 30" in diameter .higher up the tree thats a big tree
We winter with r20 and it works out well in our -40 weeks
However some beekeepers use purchased wraps that are about r8 and use a r20 cover and have sucess
Of course we move double deep and have 4 hives touching each other and an entrance near the bottom of each top box so the girls 👧 can do bathroom breaks on warmer days
Bottom entrances plug with dead bees and snow and ice .
I believe our r20 wraps with mid entrances are as good as it gets .
We unwrap once the weather has improved mid may and want easier access to the hives .

[derekmitchell]

I think you should have tested whether the treatment made a significant difference in heat loss first using a controllable heat source and measuring the heat rate required to maintain an internal temperature. Heat loss through the walls at right angles to combs is comparable to roof loss (everything else being equal). And if you have already have high losses then the ventilation isn't going to make much difference and that you saw nothing significant is probably because the you change made was too small.
This is related in more detail here. Mitchell, D. 2017. Honey bee engineering: Top ventilation and top entrances. American Bee Journal. 157(8), pp.887–889.

[auroraglacialis]

Should tinkling outside the box not also include looking at other continents? Like looking at what beekeepers in Europe or Russia do? Here in Germany we don't have holes in the top of the hives generally, insulation is not needed despite cold winters, bottom can be open mesh, mice can be kept out with a 7mm wire grid. Bees will ventilate as they need. Using Styrofoam hives is not uncommon but sizes not improve winter survival. I am at 48 degrees north and lose usually less than 5% of hives. I know that some beekeepers in Scandinavian countries use the same system and it seems to work well without adding insulation or closing it all off. I dint know much about the area near 60 degrees north like central Sweden, but would be interesting to check

[lenturtle]

A mid entrance instead of upper .
And a reduced lower entrance .3/8 high and 2" wide . My bottom entrance in the summer is 3/8"high x19" wide keeps mice out
A method of year round insulation is a plus .
The bees thrive in a constant temperature .
Im in White Fox Sask .
It gets cold here for Oct To Early April .
IF the bees are warm they eat less So i wrap double deeps in a group of four 2 facing east and 2facing west with R20 insulation around the four and on top
The lower vent becomes buried at times .And you will find the bees lined up on a top entrance looking out to restrict the airflow ie the chimney effect .



My losses this year were queens that played out .
The 2 hives with drone
layers bees were combined with another small hive with a last years queen .
The warmer you keep your hive the less they eat .

As far as a preferred location ie a tree i believe its not preferred its whats available.
Maybe they prefer hanging from a rock cliff in a warmer climate or a tree branch in the Phillipines .
Location location .
I believe a good beekeeper does everything possible to give the bees the best life possible year round .

Great video .