Wraps and Fondant

I've probably said this before but honey bees do not hibernate and bees at the centre of the cluster are quite mobile and maintain their warmth by flexing their flying muscles. The centre of the cluster of bees is still quite warm - 29C compared with a normal temperature of ~35C.

Bees on the outside of the cluster are much more densely packed and appear motionless or even dead. However gradually the outside bees migrate to the centre of the cluster to be replaced by the warm bees. A bit like penguins.

Although the bees are settled in for the winter, there are still things to do that can help them.
As with most things there are a wide range of different views about winter insulation and a wide range of different materials that can be used. The issue around insulation is that a balance has to be struck between no insulation and possibly the bees die and too much where the bees are kept too warm and continue to be active and consume stores too quickly.

I have settled into a regular routine as regards winter care and touch wood I have been reasonably successful.
To insulate the hive I use wraps that are sheets of plasticised material that is wrapped around the hive.
To supplement the stores they have built up I give them blocks of baker's fondant.

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The Warre Hive - Part 2 - Making the boxes

The plans Warre produced were very detailed although people have tweaked them slightly to allow for techniques and materials not available to Warre.
Hives are often made of cedar which is very weather resistant being an oily wood but its also expensive so I am going to use cheap wood.

One of the underlying principles of Warre's hive is that it should be easy to build and I am going to try to stick to his dimensions to save any potential problems - if I change one dimension this might have an unintended knock on effect that could muck things up.

On the face of it the brood boxes are fairly simple.
The walls are 210mm high and 20mm thick.
The nearest Wickes gets to this is 110mm by 19mm. Thickness is OK and I will have to join two pieces to get the height.
The handles are simple blocks but they need to be secure as a full brood box can be heavy.

I am going to make things difficult for myself by having observation windows in each box. This isn't in Warre's original plans but the man who translated Warre's plans into English, added this as an option.

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I'm sorry the video is much longer than usual.
My favourite YouTube channel is about someone who is rebuilding a very old boat and his posts are about cutting up huge pieces of wood with noisy 'boy toy' tools and I think I became a bit Tally Ho.