Hive insulation?
Posted: Sun Dec 03, 2023 10:39 pm
I'm skeptical--especially for our area. Beekeepers farther north used to move hives into basements or structures over winter in the late 1800's. I know the "Canadian Beekeeper Blog" shows in that farther northern climate, this commercial beekeeper moves his hives into a climate controlled building that I think keeps temperatures in the low 40'sF.
I don't think in our area that we lose bees to stress from cold or to freezing. Most of our small cluster late winter/early spring deadouts are the result of varroa infestations in late summer/early fall that damage the health of over-winter bees. As the cluster dwindles in size, the remaining bees won't move even a couple of inches to get food if it means chilling what ever amount of brood they are covering.
I have had hives come through those single digit low temperature nights with flying colors as long as I had a strong and healthy colony going into winter.
I'm sure we have some members who wrap hives. If it works for them and makes them feel better, great!
I put out my wooden Langstroth bait hives at my house each year and have bees willingly move in. If the survival conditions for them were terrible in our wooden hives, I suspect they would reject them as sites and continue to look for hollow trees....I could be wrong.