Beekeeping Quilt Box

I noticed that the Warre hive uses a quilting box in the winter to help with moisture. Boxes are made with ventilation holes in the front which are covered with heavy duty plastic entrance discs which allow you total control over.

Bee Hive Quilt Box Winter Ventilation Bee Hive Bee Hives

The top box or deep should be full of honey that will keep the bees alive all winter but I have to be ready for the worst.

Beekeeping quilt box. In winter wet bees are dead bees. Put all together I think you can tell your detractors their ideas need airing out. As a beekeeper I have always loved looking at other types of successful hive other than my Langs.

The idea is this. The Warre Top Quilt Keeps Honeybees Warm and Dry. Another Quilt Box Idea.

In our area it is very important to keep the hives dry over winter. The box sets on top of the topmost box the bees inhabit and is said to absorb moisture and retain the nest scent and heat But does it. A customer of ours recently gathered some data on.

Bottom of moisture quilt box. Beekeeping with a quilt box in place over the winter isnt different from beekeeping with a regular hive. During Winter bees are more susceptible to moisture damage.

About 12 my hives have quilt boxes made from either a shallow super filled with cedar chips and screened or a top cover with integral vents and cedar chip quilt built in. The quilt box is something I plan to add to my Langs. One way to do this is to add a moisture wicking material to the top of the hive so that the hot moist air created by the bees will not condense on the cold top and drop back down on the bees.

Bret Jensen shared his instructions for building a quilt box in our January 2015 meeting. These boxes are already painted black saving you the time and the mess. The quilt box provides insulation for the hive thus the name.

Heres how we control the moisture in our hives for the winter. Build Your Own Quilt Box. We have been quilt checking our hives about every 4 weeks throughout the winter.

What we found in each hive the cluster of bees moved up between the candy board and the quilt box. A Warre top quilt is a shallow box that sits on top of the hive and is filled with a bedding material such as straw sawdust or wood chips. Ventilation is also key to keeping the bees dry in our.

Quilt boxes are used to reduce moisture inside the hive and provide insulation in the winter. During the winter months this insulation keeps the bees warmer and prevents condensation from forming above them and then dripping down on them. The thing that has me puzzled is that most of the discussion here is about the quilt box as a solution to moisture in the winter whereas on the Warre Hive it is a part of the hive during all seasons.

Top of moisture quilt box. The quilt box is 18 hardware cloth stretched over the bottom of a very shallow 2-3 dry well also known as a rim spacer. Moisture is mitigated from the hive through the quilt.

The bees will quickly adapt to having an upper entrance. Adding screen to the vent holes. Beehive moisture quilt boxes require monitoring for wetness.

In this part of the Warre Hive Construction Guide we will assemble the quilt. What is a quilt box. The hives that do not have these get burlap stuffed under the cover above the frames and emergency feed.

Disadvantages of Using a Quilt Box for a Beehive. Lots of cedar hives with happy bees. Is there a reason for removing the quilt box from Langs in the summer.

This is what it looks like. Propolis is pretty aromatic stuff. It is essentially a small box with burlap or screen on the bottom filled with sawdust cedar shavings or some other organic material.

Replace the top cover and youre done. I placed a rim over the top brood box to make room for dry sugar that I might have to give the bees later in the winter. It was a year of learning for us.

There is no need to close off the lower one provided it is reduced and has a mouse guard on it. This year I wanted to try something different. Is one of the most common questions we receive.

A beehive quilt box works with other beekeeping equipment used in winter beekeeping such as beehive heaters and beehive insulation wraps. It is the easiest hive component to buildjust four pieces of wood and some cloth. Some people use the inner cover but I dont see it being needed.

The quilting box is covered with a piece of cotton muslin and filled with kiln dried pine shavings. Similar to a Vivaldi Board made by others but includes the insulative western red cedar shavings. Borrowed from the Warres quilt box design this insulation box holds wood shavings that help wick moisture and retain heat or cool depending on the season.

To build the Warre Hive Quilt you will need to cut the following wood pieces. In a quilt box application the air flow is up out of the box. The quilt box has a 18th-inch wire mesh bottom that separates the hive from the bedding material and prevents moisture from building up.

Since the clusters appear large to us new beekeepers it has been difficult to add additional candy. Round 1 of Moisture Quilts vs Hard Insulation. So let the games begin.

The quilt rests between the top hive box and the roof. 7 Oct 16 2013. There have been posts with pictures of swarms building in old auto gas tanks.

Add an extra layer of insulation to help keep hive temperature and moisture consistent inside your Langstroth hive. Now remove inner cover on hive place your new quilt board on the hive and then add wood chips or other moisture absorbing material. Moisture in your hives can be bad.

Winter quilt box is available in both an 8 frame hive or a 10 frame hive size. Bee Hive Winter Quilt Box with Moisture Board. Moisture building up in the quilting material can cause decomposition of the material to begin.

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