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We would use thick Styrofoam insulation (2-3) inches thick and would insulate the entire hive with it. In the winter we would feed them occasionally with warm h

We would use thick Styrofoam insulation (2-3) inches thick and would insulate the entire hive with it. In the winter we would feed them occasionally with warm honey/sugar. The Hives were also protected by a row of thick Evergreens as a wind break. Maybe lost one or two hives over a decade. If your not wrapping them and preparing them for winter than you shouldn't have bees.

cryptonector 3y ago
Where? I don't insulate mine, but it's Central Texas, where... it does admittedly get very cold from time to time, but not usually for very long.
poulsbohemian 3y ago
> If your not wrapping them and preparing them for winter than you shouldn't have bees. This is such a bold statement given the variety of climates in which bees are kept, and simultaneously overlooks research that indicates starvation is an even bigger issue than cold in many places.
- ChumpGPT 3y ago
  I'm talking about a winter climate like the article. No one is going to wrap a hive in Hawaii...But anywhere you have temperatures that drop into the minus ranges requires care. If bees are starving to death, the keeper is taking too much from them or the environment won't support them (Desert).
sfink 3y ago
The article directly agrees with you (though your thickness is even better than they propose): > This means that for hive walls to be effective, they have to be substantially insulating, such as 30mm of polystyrene.
mrweasel 3y ago
Modern Scandinavian beehives are normally made from Styropor, and about 30 - 40mm thick. The bees will still cluster. I do think you're on to something though, because losing only two hives over a decade is pretty impressive, regardless of your number of hives. A common issue is that the bee will cluster and move "the wrong way" in the hive, away from available food, and the get stuck in a corner and starve. It seems like the level of isolation you provide might be enough that the bees are more free to move around.
- ChumpGPT 3y ago
  We lost a few of hives but not to cold. My father loved taking care of the bees. He would purposefully set aside a few hectors/acres near the hives to plant Buckwheat, Alfalfa, etc so they wouldn't have to work so hard or fly to far. They loved him back and treated him with kindness, he rarely got stung and would sit among them in his shorts and undershirt smoking his cigarettes relaxing. It was where he could just go and get away from everyone knowing no one would bother him there :)). Me on the other hand was a different story...hehehe
- bjelkeman-again 3y ago
  One way to combat that, according to our old bee keeping advisor, is to have at least two boxes and stack them so that the frames are 90 degrees to each other (one box compared to the next), with food in both boxes. This way the bees seem to not get stuck in a corner as often.
  - mrweasel 3y ago
    I never heard that, but that sounds reasonable. In Denmark it's generally considered less than ideal to have more than one box during the winter, unless you use Seeberger or other lower profile boxes.
    - bjelkeman-again 3y ago
      Our advisor always used two boxes, normal height, and it seemed to work for him. We have been using two with reasonable success for a few years. But the sample is small.
voisin 3y ago
> If your not wrapping them and preparing them for winter than you shouldn't have bees. There is an entire philosophy of beekeeping supported by a variety of studies conducted on remote islands around the UK that we should be positioning bees for minimal interference like you suggest (as well as interference via mite treatments, etc) in order to allow for evolutionary adaptations to create more robust bee populations.
giantg2 3y ago
This depends heavily on the local climate. There are some places where it is required and others where it is not.
steve_adams_86 3y ago
There seem to be a lot of hobbies or activities like beekeeping where people seriously neglect the animals' needs yet seem quite oblivious to it. I've noticed in aquaria that people often seem to think fish or shrimp will be fine in absolutely dire conditions such as low oxygen, chemically unstable, cold, hot, or otherwise hostile environments. They're genuinely confused when the system collapses. Certainly some species are very resilient, but it's no surprise that people lose entire hives or aquariums like this. Caring for nature requires real care, attention, and diligence. As in aquaria, if you want something you can "set and forget", you need to let nature take over and provide a) a biome resembling a natural habitat and b) place the appropriate species and scape inside it. Then you can get away with no mechanical filtration, no heater, no air, etc. You can safely go on vacation because the system will clean itself, generate food, and so on. But that requires considerable knowledge and care at the outset and the willingness to let things be. In the case of beekeeping, this almost seems like you'd need to allow a hive to be inside of a log or stump or something where the bees are properly protected and secure. Barring that, you need to be cognizant of their needs and actually take care of them. I'm not sure why people get the idea that animals should survive in conditions so wildly different from their natural conditions, and why they continue to try to make it work.
- poulsbohemian 3y ago
  > There seem to be a lot of hobbies or activities like beekeeping where people seriously neglect the animals' needs yet seem quite oblivious to it. I’m sorry but what?? On what basis are you making this remark? Do you really think the generations of people who have researched and kept bees are all doing so neglectfully? Look - you may not like the way bees are transported for the almond harvest (which could be a reasonable argument), but that’s not what your comment indicated. Instead you painted our entire field - which is quite broad in itself - with a massive brush as though we are all neglectful by default. So as a beekeeper, I would challenge that your statement above is seriously out of line, especially as the rest of your argument is about an entirely separate field with no examples given from beekeeper - commercial or otherwise.
  - steve_adams_86 3y ago

cryptonector 3y ago

Where? I don't insulate mine, but it's Central Texas, where... it does admittedly get very cold from time to time, but not usually for very long.

poulsbohemian 3y ago

> If your not wrapping them and preparing them for winter than you shouldn't have bees. This is such a bold statement given the variety of climates in which bees are kept, and simultaneously overlooks research that indicates starvation is an even bigger issue than cold in many places.

ChumpGPT 3y ago
I'm talking about a winter climate like the article. No one is going to wrap a hive in Hawaii...But anywhere you have temperatures that drop into the minus ranges requires care. If bees are starving to death, the keeper is taking too much from them or the environment won't support them (Desert).

sfink 3y ago

The article directly agrees with you (though your thickness is even better than they propose): > This means that for hive walls to be effective, they have to be substantially insulating, such as 30mm of polystyrene.

mrweasel 3y ago

Modern Scandinavian beehives are normally made from Styropor, and about 30 - 40mm thick. The bees will still cluster. I do think you're on to something though, because losing only two hives over a decade is pretty impressive, regardless of your number of hives. A common issue is that the bee will cluster and move "the wrong way" in the hive, away from available food, and the get stuck in a corner and starve. It seems like the level of isolation you provide might be enough that the bees are more free to move around.

ChumpGPT 3y ago
We lost a few of hives but not to cold. My father loved taking care of the bees. He would purposefully set aside a few hectors/acres near the hives to plant Buckwheat, Alfalfa, etc so they wouldn't have to work so hard or fly to far. They loved him back and treated him with kindness, he rarely got stung and would sit among them in his shorts and undershirt smoking his cigarettes relaxing. It was where he could just go and get away from everyone knowing no one would bother him there :)). Me on the other hand was a different story...hehehe
bjelkeman-again 3y ago
One way to combat that, according to our old bee keeping advisor, is to have at least two boxes and stack them so that the frames are 90 degrees to each other (one box compared to the next), with food in both boxes. This way the bees seem to not get stuck in a corner as often.
- mrweasel 3y ago
  I never heard that, but that sounds reasonable. In Denmark it's generally considered less than ideal to have more than one box during the winter, unless you use Seeberger or other lower profile boxes.
  - bjelkeman-again 3y ago
    Our advisor always used two boxes, normal height, and it seemed to work for him. We have been using two with reasonable success for a few years. But the sample is small.

voisin 3y ago

> If your not wrapping them and preparing them for winter than you shouldn't have bees. There is an entire philosophy of beekeeping supported by a variety of studies conducted on remote islands around the UK that we should be positioning bees for minimal interference like you suggest (as well as interference via mite treatments, etc) in order to allow for evolutionary adaptations to create more robust bee populations.

giantg2 3y ago

This depends heavily on the local climate. There are some places where it is required and others where it is not.

steve_adams_86 3y ago

There seem to be a lot of hobbies or activities like beekeeping where people seriously neglect the animals' needs yet seem quite oblivious to it. I've noticed in aquaria that people often seem to think fish or shrimp will be fine in absolutely dire conditions such as low oxygen, chemically unstable, cold, hot, or otherwise hostile environments. They're genuinely confused when the system collapses. Certainly some species are very resilient, but it's no surprise that people lose entire hives or aquariums like this. Caring for nature requires real care, attention, and diligence. As in aquaria, if you want something you can "set and forget", you need to let nature take over and provide a) a biome resembling a natural habitat and b) place the appropriate species and scape inside it. Then you can get away with no mechanical filtration, no heater, no air, etc. You can safely go on vacation because the system will clean itself, generate food, and so on. But that requires considerable knowledge and care at the outset and the willingness to let things be. In the case of beekeeping, this almost seems like you'd need to allow a hive to be inside of a log or stump or something where the bees are properly protected and secure. Barring that, you need to be cognizant of their needs and actually take care of them. I'm not sure why people get the idea that animals should survive in conditions so wildly different from their natural conditions, and why they continue to try to make it work.

poulsbohemian 3y ago
> There seem to be a lot of hobbies or activities like beekeeping where people seriously neglect the animals' needs yet seem quite oblivious to it. I’m sorry but what?? On what basis are you making this remark? Do you really think the generations of people who have researched and kept bees are all doing so neglectfully? Look - you may not like the way bees are transported for the almond harvest (which could be a reasonable argument), but that’s not what your comment indicated. Instead you painted our entire field - which is quite broad in itself - with a massive brush as though we are all neglectful by default. So as a beekeeper, I would challenge that your statement above is seriously out of line, especially as the rest of your argument is about an entirely separate field with no examples given from beekeeper - commercial or otherwise.
- steve_adams_86 3y ago