winter heating

[rober]

another union carpenter/beekeeper I know ( there are 5 beekeepers in my union local that I know of ) as experiment put heating pads ( the type used to keep young chicks warm ) in 2 of his hives over the winter. both of those hives now have beau coup brood. one has 14 frames of solid brood. has anyone else seen similar results or might this just be a fluke?

[Perry]

I have seen that type of thing for sale on e-bay, usually being sold from the Ukraine. I have never found it necessary and look where I live!

[rober]

I do not see the need for it here either. like I said it was an experiment. anything that creates heat uses a lot of juice. when the block heater is plugged in for my diesel truck my electric bill goes up $20.00 per month!!

[Lburou]

I think we should make a pool to bet on his swarm date(s) rober. 

[rober]

it probably won't belong...... i'm getting 2 frames of brood from him to put in that hive in my other thread, hopefully today.

[robo]

It is not a fluke.   Bees need heat to make bees.  I did many experiments years ago with two 7 watt night lights and saw similar results.   I actually had queens laying and raising brood on the bottom of the frames right above the lights.   I moved to polystyrene hives 10 years ago and haven't looked back.   Wooden Langstroth do not provide the heat retention bees need.  Feral bees in trees have also been raising brood like crazy since January and will be early swarmers as well.

[rober]

robo- so an insulated hive will have the same results? if they're that active in the winter won't they burn up their food supplies?

[robo]

robo- so an insulated hive will have the same results? if they're that active in the winter won't they burn up their food supplies?

I would say similar results.  Providing heat to a hive is a pain in the butt and exposes them when power fails,  heating element failure, etc.   Providing them a well insulated home is more convenient and more reliable.

if they're that active in the winter won't they burn up their food supplies?

Their activity level has little to do with amount of honey consumed.  Remember, they don't hibernate,  they eat honey to keep warm.  Think of it as honey is their fuel oil.   Which house burns more fuel oil, a well insulated home or an uninsulated home?   Here is a thread I wrote a while back that gives more details if interested ->
https://worldwidebeekeeping.com/forum/index.php?topic=6688.msg84989#msg84989

[Mikey N.C.]

Rober, I'm very interested in this as i lost 2 hives this winter because clusters were to small and froze. In my mind am thinking if i would have had these style boxes i might still have bees ? (Don't know)  in sept. i knew both hives were low on bee count ,still had capped brood and a few fresh eggs and seen both queen's.  I was bound and determined not to use chem. treatment these were Wayne's Bee's.  I was assuming they in a brood break because of varroa. Little did i know temps. were going to drop in the 20's. at night for 2 days, and that all it took. Don't know if a heat source or insulation would have worked.?  But it sure has me thinking alot especially with weak hives going into winter.  CBT had a speaker at there club meeting this month (wasn't able to attend) that was talking about heat blankets.

[rober]

mikey- i'm asking too. those poly hives robo posted would work or you could insulate your hives. when it turned into spring in February here I was really concerned for my hives. once the queen starts laying the workers break the cluster to tend brood & could get caught in a freeze. I had one hive with a smallish population, a bit of brood, & I did see the queen. then we got a week of temps in the teens & low 20's at night & I lost that hive. there were too few bees to make an effective cluster. looking back if i'd insulated that hive they might have survived.