To Wrap Or Not To Wrap Your Hive For Winter
Hello from Long Lane Honey Bee Farms, we are David and Sheri Burns.
As beekeepers, we feel better wrapping our hives for winter because we insulate our homes, so why not make our hives toasty too.
Bees do not hibernate as some believe. Instead, the colony gathers together very tight and forms a ball within the hive to keep each other warm. This is known as the winter cluster. The queen may keep laying a smaller amount of eggs throughout the cold months of winter and this developing brood must be kept over 90 degrees (f). Areas further away from the cluster may be as cold as the outside temperature. Bees do not heat the inside of their hives like we heat our homes. They only stay warm by staying close as a cluster. They must continue to consume food, pollen and honey, to make heat.
They produce heat through their thoracic muscle located in their thorax. “Bees use two pairs of big fibrillar muscles, the dorsal longitudinal (DL) and the dorsoventral (DV) indirect flight muscles in various behaviours. The most important behaviours include warming of individuals in preparation for flight (Esch, 1960; Heinrich, 1980), flight itself (Esch etal. 1975; Esch 1976), communal hive heating (Himmer, 1932; Esch, 1960; Heinrich, 1987) and fanning during regulation of hive temperatures (Lindauer, 1954).” (Esch and Goller 1991:419).
In my newest video I answer the question if wrapping a hive is of any benefit.
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Backyard Beekeeping: Everything You Need To Know To Start Your First Hive
IT’S FINALLY HERE! So many of our customers have wanted us to write a book on beekeeping and we did! Backyard Beekeeping, Everything You Need to Know to Start Your First Hive. Copyright 2020 by Rockridge Press. 160 pgs.
We will sign your book when you order it from our website.
“The popularity of beekeeping is surging across the country―as an enjoyable hobby, source of delicious honey, and a way to help address the alarming decline in pollinators. David and Sheri Burns have written a comprehensive guide to getting started in beekeeping in an easygoing style that is chock-full of accurate and up-to-date information. If you’re thinking of keeping bees in your backyard or on the roof of your apartment building, or even if you already have a hive or two, this will be a very useful book for you.” ―Gene E. Robinson, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Start Beekeeping In 2021 The Right Way
Our customers love how gentle our 3 lb. packages of bees are and how strong the queens perform. Our packages are on sale now. Check them out by clicking here.
Be sure and take our beekeeping course if you are new to beekeeping. Our Online Ultimate Beekeeping Course will help you get started the right way, from the comfort of your home.
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