Interview with Experts: The Condensing Hive Concept with Dr. David Peck and Bill Hesbach

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9 ай бұрын

Betterbee’s Director of Research and Education, Dr. David Peck, sat down with Master Beekeeper Bill Hesbach to discuss the concept of "condensing hives" and Bill’s perspective on good overwintering practices. Note that Betterbee deeply values Bill’s insights into the movement of heat and moisture in a winter hive, but does not exclusively endorse the Condensing Hive concept as the only valid winter management philosophy.
Check out this Betterbee newsletter article for more information on the Condensing Hive Concept: www.betterbee.com/instruction...
This is our first in our new “Interviews with Experts” series. Comment to let us know if you’d like to see more videos like this, and if you’d like to suggest an “Expert” for us to interview!
Bill Hesbach is an Eastern Apicultural Society Certified Master Beekeeper and graduate of the University of Montana's Master Beekeeping Program. Bill is on the Board of Directors for the Eastern Apicultural Society, and is President of the Connecticut Beekeepers Association.

Пікірлер: 41

@FrederickDunn 8 ай бұрын

Hello Dr. David, and Mr. Hesbach! This is a fantastic topic, and I really appreciate this series and format. Well worth the time to watch. Many thanks!

@ThomCusack 4 ай бұрын

Thanks for this David. The science makes sense! Very interesting- keep it up

@CastleHives 8 ай бұрын

Very interesting. I am actually switching over to insulated inner covers with foam insulation above, thanks to Fred Dunn. I had great success last winter with the colonies that I had used just the insulated inners.

@garypoland5288 9 ай бұрын

Thank you for this very informative video. It has giving me a entirely new outlook on winterizing my hives.

@johnkillen588 5 ай бұрын

I have a suggestion for material in the quilt box.......using a screen over the cluster and open cell polyurethane foam. I use this material for clothing and use a taffeta ( silky) material against the skin then foam then an open material on the outside. I can work with this clothing on in the cold and wet and I never feel cold as the moisture is wicked away from my skin due to vapor pressure wanting to draw the moisture to the cold side.

@MinnesotaBeekeeper 9 ай бұрын

Is Bill confusing the R 45:17 factor of honey with the M or mass factor? I might add, a strong high will regulate the moisture as opposed to a weak one. Maybe that was mention the last five minutes... Thanks guys, interesting talk.

@b_northof5369 9 ай бұрын

I tried this last winter and the hive came thru very strong. It consumed half the stores that my upper ventilated hives did.

@Kapp_Bee_Co 7 ай бұрын

This was an amazing talk, wish I would’ve seen this when it came out. It would’ve put my nerves at ease seeing moisture at the front entrance. I have the bubble insulation under my inner cover, a medium box with insulation above the inner cover and the outside wrapped with bubble insulation.

@keithspillman 8 ай бұрын

Great video!! All my hives have upper insulation, no vents, and a Hive Alive fondant patty. I'm in the eastern foothills of NC so Winter's aren't terrible. But no losses the past 3 Winters so why change a good thing? Thanks as always!!!!

@FrederickDunn 8 ай бұрын

That sounds like an excellent approach! :)

@keithspillman 8 ай бұрын

@@FrederickDunn😉

@FrederickDunn 8 ай бұрын

@@keithspillman :)

@slava790 9 ай бұрын

Has Bill done any research on condensing hives and published in peer reviewed journals? If not, then I am reluctant to accept his hypothesis.

@honeyhillapiary3421 9 ай бұрын

We've known since the early 90s that allowing bees to maintain their preferred 60%-70% humidity in the brood chamber reduces varroa breeding viability by up to 50%. We've known for over a decade that bees in nature have winter CO2 of up to 6% (atmosphere is .04%) that causes large scale die off of varroa. Thomas Seeley has been showing that the moisture in winter is used for thinning honey and drinking and a thermodynamics physicist (Garret Mitchell) repeatedly has shown that the "dripping" roof just doesn't happen. None of this is "new" information. People just are naturally resistant to change and prefer to keep repeating methods that are 150 years old, instead of admitting that the modern Langstroth is designed for commercial practices of moving inexpensive, lightweight equipment instead of what is beneficial to the bees.

@slava790 9 ай бұрын

@honeyhillapiary3421 Thank you for your reply. It's a scientist, I question everything. So-, the answer to my question is no, Bill has not done any research on condensing hives and has not published in peer reviewed journals. I prefer to see hard evidence, which is why I like to see the evidence as articles in peer reviewed journals. I would like to see the peer reviewed articles supporting the things "we have known " for many years in scientific journal.

@b_northof5369 9 ай бұрын

Try one yourself, it does work. Look up Etienne Tardif he has done some excellent research on this.

@neilbush9873 9 ай бұрын

You know most things without peer revued science .its a no brainer to see in 100 hives if stopping mold and dripping by adding insulation works ,this is not a new idea, just a reminder . when you make up your lids this is important use insulation. but beware soft polystyrene or the like will be chewed up by the bees so co v er it with maybe plywood. Im an uncaring commercial bee keeper who knows the basics of caring for livestock.

@JamesLeesBees 9 ай бұрын

You can find research from Bernhard Mobus recently reprinted in ABJ the last two months, September and October I believe. You can also find this theory taught by John Gaut in ABJ and other club presentations. You can also find this ideal being promoted many many years ago, so it's not new for northern and cold climate beekeepers. Bill and Etienne are not novel but recent presenters of this theory.

@debbeecorcoran3104 8 ай бұрын

Thank you Bill and Dr Peck. I’m in Western Catskills NYS and have always followed beeks in Vermont. I heard Bill at a College in NY years ago on 2 queen hives and Dr, Peck from NYBW. I am going to try this, it makes sense, even though I have screened BB, I try to keep them tight. Thank you again.

@sonofthunder. 7 ай бұрын

bee smart tops have passive ventilation, thanks for showing the cutaway, davids showing the top cover combined with the insulated inner,as a display cutaway cover/innercover

@tavery6418 8 ай бұрын

In answering the question asked under the video, yes of course informative videos are a good plan. Perhaps with less interruption of the guest by the host, since the guest is the one I watched the video to hear. I heard enough to make 25 colonies "condensing hives". And compare to our usual set up.

@sonofthunder. 7 ай бұрын

ive seen mold from too much space, extra comb ,acts as a thermal battery allowing water,and thus mildew,when i shouldve packed down the colony in fall,bee trying to warm too much space, was a hard lesson ,a nice feature of long langs and their divider,follower/partition board, keeping the space more manageable. 😊

@johnkillen588 5 ай бұрын

make a quilt box as described but the urethane must be protected from direct wind.

@theshadowoftruth7561 4 ай бұрын

Stressing bees out to keep themself warm in the winter shortens their lives, and weakens their defenses against disease. Not to mention them working harder to stay warm creates more water vapor.

@dougstucki8253 8 ай бұрын

I have been using wool in my quilt boxes. What I found is that if I had no vents, the water had no where to go and the wool would be wet on top because I didn't have insulation above it. Due to the heat below and the wicking capabilities, the wool always stayed warm and dry near the bees. I added vents to my quilt boxes with an air gap between the top of the wool and the outer cover. I found that the condensed water on top would evaporate on drier days. Even when this happened, the wool was warm and dry closest to the bees so I believe heat is taken from the air to evaporate the water. My only concern is that this might be too effective and I worry the bees don't have enough water.

@heavymechanic2 9 ай бұрын

I believe the entire bee industry is brainwashed by past philosophy of what works. David Burns promotes ventilation and I disagree having a top entrance. I made a top box for dead air space for summer heat and to ventilate for honey dry down, the bees plugged up all air flow, including the vents in the feed dish.. I put a piece of fiberglass mat over the hive inside the enclosure and the bees do well in crazy cold weather (even 1/2 inch of insulation board under a migratory cover is magic in the winter). I tried two styles of hive wrap, one is vinyl coated poly board and the other was homemade from a bee club for protection from the wind; one became a very strong colony in early spring.. I'm making an investment into insulated hives after my experience and contacting others who use different designs.. People need better education for pest pressure and survival in all weather conditions to evolve with modern technology.

@pete0205 8 ай бұрын

Thanks for a great presentation. I'm in SE Virginia and insulate my colonies for winter providing top insulation and side insulation as well as closing off the screen bottom boards. Wondering about the effects of having a sugar brick on the top bars. I've always believed that the sugar brick, absorbing colony moisture, is becoming more of a syrup at the edges allowing the bees to better ingest it as a resource.

@TheBradtri 7 ай бұрын

I've been insulating my hives using this approach for several years with great success. Three of the last four years I've had 100% survival of my 20 colonies. The other year I had complete failure of my mite treatment product August resulting in very high mite counts in September with the resulting winter having 25% survival. Here is a video I put together from this past spring showing how I configure my hives and also graphical results from temperature monitoring inside the hives using BroodMinder strips: kzfaq.info/get/bejne/iayee9tnqLjQdYE.htmlsi=MkEie5LQeKznJd0h

@framcesmoore 9 ай бұрын

Ha David I have 40 hives and I have been using the bee cozy from u/Better bee and your top foam boards for the tops of my hives I live in Virginia what are your ideas on this Better bee says to vent do I vent or no, I wish he had showed Pics, of his condensed hives, David how do u over winter your hives, Thanks for this video it was good.

@DrDTPeck-Betterbee 9 ай бұрын

We've seen success with both top-vented and non-top-vented hives. We think these ideas are worth considering as you get ready for winter, but we don't say "Only send your bees into winter without top entrances!" Some Betterbee employees will be leaving upper entrances open this year, and some will be closing them. Usually, if people are happy with their winter survival numbers from the past, they don't want to change anything. If they think too many of their bees are dying each winter, they're more willing to try something different! Check out the article in the video description, which discusses some of these ideas in more detail.

@johnjaneri5023 9 ай бұрын

Very much enjoyed the science-based explanations. In winter, I've always used a thin homemade box on top to hold sugar cakes (shaped like little hockey pucks as "insurance" carbohydrates for the girls). I've always thought this added a decent layer of insulation to the top. I just wish I would have heard more about the *bottom* of an insulation hive. For example, is is OK to keep screen-bottom boards in all winter? I do, but if we ever drop below 20 deg F (in Chatham Co. NC) I'll slide in a styrofoam IPM board underneath and use twigs to apply pressure to the bottom so it seals.

@PutEmInTheBox 9 ай бұрын

Might have missed it, but where did the term ‘condensing hive’ originate from? I like it. Get away from vented inner covers years ago. Colonies use less stores through winter.

@neilbush9873 9 ай бұрын

😊by the nature of our hive design we are making an asumption

@user-jd7st8ti1c 8 ай бұрын

I appreciate your sharing this fantastic video. Have you had any experience with Apimaye hives? I currently use one, and I've previously modified it by removing the feeders for winter and adding a quilt box for insulation due to Utah's moisture concerns. This year, I've decided to leave the top feeder in and filled it with insulation to provide better top insulation. I do have some reservations about the plastic bottom of the feeder, but I'm planning to tilt the hive forward, insulate the sides, and add more insulation on top of the roof. I've also sealed off the top roof vents with insulation. Do you have any suggestions regarding insulating bottom of the hive? It is slatted, but there is a removeable plastic drawer on the bottom.

@dougstucki8253 8 ай бұрын

I have an Apimaye and also use a quilt box. I fill my quilt box with raw wool to retain the heat and wick away moisture. I believe the Apimaye hives have air gaps between the boxes and between the top lid, so I expect the bees have some condensation there. I imagine if you have enough insulation on top of the feeders it should prevent condensation and I don't see any need to insulate the bottom since the bees are generally in the top.

@JamesMurray-wd2nr 8 ай бұрын

Thank You for Condensing all the Information of the Condensing Hive in this Video! Does Betterbee have any plans to sell/distribute the Hive-Hugger?

@neilbush9873 9 ай бұрын

I like this guys ideas,and hope i havent missed the point, feel i should make a comment. Northern bee keepers dont seem to realise that in warm temperatures bees can make a massive colony hanging in a shed free of co2. The ideal fantasy of a hollow tree being the way bees always naturaly live is a hollow argument. caves and even as i saw once in sweden holes in the ground are somtimes used. So trapped co2 is possibly inconsequential unless a lethal dose. I agree with the idea of insulation being important and even with out a cold winter worth the effort if you want honey .also brood warming uses bees and you want as many as possible out foraging , basicly we dont want to make it hard for the bees to control ideal humidity and temp .Thanks for getting the message out.

@bradwamsley3465 9 ай бұрын

Great video. I have only been using condensing hives since day one 4 years ago. I haven’t loss a colony to date from the winter weather in New England.