Natural Beekeeping International Forum

[Martin White]

Fellow Beeks,
What is the preferred insulation for the roof space in a top bar hive, is it necessary and also should I insulate the side spaces, the hive is contained in the mid 1/3 of the Hive
Martin

[biobee]

Yes, you should insulate the space all year round. Use anything you have handy: wool, straw, glass fibre (loose material should be in a bag), old pillow, newspaper, etc. No harm in adding extra in the spaces beyond the followers. No such thing as too much insulation!

[Vern Faulkner]

[buffalobob]

I have a small top bar hive, 21 bars, about 36" long. There were combs on all the bars so I left them all in for the winter. I put 3/4" pink foam insulation on the bottom. Then I wrapped all the sides in 1 1/2" pink foam insulation. I taped all the joints with gorilla tape, similar to duct tape. I left an opening of 1/2" ht and 3" long for the entry. I have a flat top on the hive. I built a top to go over the existing top. It had 3/4" pink foam insulation on the sides and under its plywood top. I extended this top to cover the landing board. 1st winter for the bees and no supplimental feeding and they survived the winter. This spring I got 3 qts. of honey off of the last 3 bars. I'm going to build my next hive to include 3/4" foam insulation within dbl. walls and the floor. The roof is still a question but will be a gable roof, with a ridge vent. I'm thinking of some sort of a warre quilt over the top bars but still allowing airflow to remove excess humidity.

[rmcpb]