Description
Are you preparing your apiary for the cold weather? In this video, we share helpful tips on how to properly weatherproof and insulate your bee hive for winter!
Honey bees must keep their hive at ninety degrees all winter by vibrating their flight muscles. To help them conserve energy, it is important to minimize cold drafts. You can easily do this by removing empty boxes, using entrance reducers, and switching to solid bottom boards. We also recommend treating the outside of your wooden hives with one hundred percent natural tung oil to improve water resistance without trapping excess moisture inside.
For extra insulation, quilt boxes work wonderfully for Langstroth and Warre hives. If you live in an extremely cold climate, you can even wrap your hive in a thick wool blanket or use a wind barrier to block freezing gusts.
If you need to winterize your apiary, we have exactly what you need.
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0:00 How Bees Survive the Winter
0:38 Treating the Hive Exterior with Tung Oil
1:17 Removing Empty Space in the Hive
1:30 Using Entrance Reducers
2:02 Adding Mouse Guards and Hive Stands
2:20 Switching to Solid Bottom Boards
2:32 Using Quilt Boxes and Internal Insulation
2:52 Upgrading the Roof for Winter
3:18 Wrapping the Hive in Extreme Cold
3:35 Minimizing Wind Chill