Bees, Bats and Beyond
Massachusetts Bee and Critter Removal Services
Electric Heating a Beehive
OK, so now that we have the bees wintering over in good health and plenty of food we try our best to make them feel happy. So we buy them a forced hot water heating system.....No!!!!!......Just kidding!!!!! But if you want to help your bees make it into spring in better condition then any way to retain heat within the hive should help. The bees will try to maintain heat within the cluster but this requires energy and energy comes from the honey they eat. By possibly locating the hive in a well protected location as well as insulating the hive body, preventing drafts and perhaps applying some form of heat into the hive should help tremendously. Anything we can do to help the bees stay warm should help them save energy thus saving their food supply.
There are various ways to deliver heat into a hive but before getting involved in heat deliver you should make sure the hive can hold the heat. Usually insulating the hive with tar paper could suffice. Just how much insulation depends on how much time and money one has to invest in those little critters.
There are various ways to deliver heat into a hive but before getting involved in heat deliver you should make sure the hive can hold the heat. Usually insulating the hive with tar paper could suffice. Just how much insulation depends on how much time and money one has to invest in those little critters.
In the following pictures I will attempt to show the construction and installation of a "heat-tape" tray which I use to deliver heat through the bottom of my hives. This heat-tape could be used with or without a screened bottom board (SBB).
Be advised that any of the following discussions and explanations on this page are for informational purposes only. The use and installation of heat-tapes or any other electrical devices could be hazardous if not installed correctly. The possibilities of allowing the instrument to get wet or get chewed up by rodents and/or other animals could affect the use of the product and could become dangerous. If you decide to install any of these devices do so at your own risk. The author of this web page takes no responsibility for any damages or injuries sustained through the setup and use of these products.
I would also suggest that you read the instruction manuals for each device and pay attention to their warning labels.
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The following picture shows a simple galvanized wire tray which holds the heat tape and slides directly through the hive's front bottom entrance. After inserting the heat-tape tray into the hive and on top of the bottom board I then close the front entrance with an entrance reducer/mouse guard combination board. I am using this design at present on my old SBB's. The new design of SBB will have its own heat-tape tray built into it and will slide from behind the hive and underneath the top screen.
In the top-center picture of this page you can see that I have 3 beehives connected by what appears to be gray plastic PVC pipe. The pipe and the 90 deg. pieces of curved electrical conduit on either side of each entrance is to connect only one solid piece of 20 foot length heat-tape and the use of only one heat controller.
I have two types of controllers. The orange controller you see pictured above is an older model I had for some years now that I used to keep my pond water pipes from freezing during the winter months. It is made by EASYHEAT and puts out 3 Watts of power per linear foot. The other model I recently purchased is the Frostex made by TYCO. This model has a built-in "test & reset" button. Both of them do the job fine.
Just as you want to prevent the loss of heat through the hive walls you also want to keep it from escaping out the top. Since I use ventilated inner covers throughout the year I have to insulate their walls to prevent heat loss during cold weather. The following pics show how I accomplish insulating the VIC's.
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This web page was last updated on March 2, 2011.
