Wintering with single hive wraps.
Manitoba apiary wraped in single hive wraps ready for the winter.
This method of wintering hives uses one insulated black wrap that goes over each hive individually. This has got to be the easiest way to winter hives in that, it is very little work. In 4 easy steps the hive is ready for winter.
Take the hive top off.
Slide insulation over hive.
Place insulation on top of the hive
Replace hive top.
There is no heavy lifting, and you can leave the hives in the same place year round. For top insulation I use 2″ blue Styrofoam between the inner cover and the hive lid. Single and double chamber hives can be wintered this way. These wraps are available from NOD Apiary.
Hives with a black insulated warped around each hive, ready for Manitoba winter.
Winter snow fall builds up in front of the top entrance. Even if the entrance snows shut completely air can still get in and out because the snow is soft and porous. I find that the snow build up makes for a nice wind break from the cold winter winds.
Here is a picture of the top entrance in early winter with hardly any snow on the ground yet. The seam in front provides a fairly good wind protection.
The bottom of the black wrap loosely covers the bottom entrance. The bottom entrance can get completely buried in snow without effecting the hive.
Hives are almost completely buried. Snow also acts as a good insulator.
The top entrance remains open even if the snow piles up on top of it. The warm air from the cluster creates air tunnels through the snow and ice.
A typical Manitoba snow cover which can sometimes even bury hives in double brood chambers.
When the weather warms up enough in Spring the winter wraps can be removed. I find a good time to remove the wraps is right around the time when the dandelions are starting to bloom. In our area that would be in May. If the spring is colder then usually I have no problem leaving the wraps on till well into Dandelion bloom, after that the temperature swings from night to day are not as extreme anymore.
The wraps in one yard are all removed at the same time. Otherwise the bees will get lost and go into the hives that still have the wraps on.