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  • Monitoring winter hivve temperatures

  • General Q&A, Bee chat and only Bee chat please
General Q&A, Bee chat and only Bee chat please
 #5929  by NickWilliams
 14 Mar 2020, 21:34
I’d like to share my experience at monitoring hive temperatures in my 3 hives in recent weeks.(late Feb/early Mar)
Being concerned about possible winter losses, I drilled holes in the exact middle of the top brood box and the lowest super of each hive and used a 6 inch digital thermometer probe ( parallel with the frames and between them).
The first hive was approx 42C in the brood box and 35C in the super.
The 2nd hive was really cold, maybe very slightly above the outside temperature of maybe 8 or 9C in brood and super.
The 3rd was usually 20-30C.
Being v worried about no.2, I drilled additional holes in the bottom brood box and the top super, but the temperature was no higher. I therefore assumed the worst but then saw bees entering with a little nectar and there were some bees when I peeked into the first super.
What I am guessing is that, my prod must have actually ‘pierced’ the cluster in hive 1, but in hive 2, the cluster must have been far away from the prod , in the far right say,and the heat from it didn’t spread very far sideways.
I was disappointed that I couldn’t use my new remote Bluetooth sensors (about the size of a large button)as I wouldn’t know where to place them.They would have been ideal as iIcould monitor all hives on my iphone.
I wonder if some of you have monitored your hive temperatures and , if so,I would be interested in your comments please.
Nick Williams
 #5930  by thewoodgatherer
 14 Mar 2020, 22:39
The problem with remote motoring is that the winter cluster are invariably not in the dimensional centre of the hive. Also they will move about consuming stores. In order to get accurate measurements your going to need multiple sensors so that you can either map the whole hive or get a reading nearer the centre of the cluster.
 #5931  by MickBBKA
 14 Mar 2020, 23:02
Welcome to the forum Nick.
First, I would say 42C is never gonna happen so I think there is either a fault with your gear or your readings. Second, although its very interesting to have an understanding as to temps in the hive indicating brood rearing ( something I do out of interest ) there is virtually nothing you can do about the results you find. Third, as long as they have stores enough its best to resist temptation and wait until its warm enough to have a proper look. About April most years in my location... :roll:
 #5936  by AdamD
 15 Mar 2020, 10:25
Nick, I have wondered about monitoring the temperature - although Mick is correct that you can't really do much in any case. As it happens, yesterday, a little battery powered bluetooth temperature and humidity sensor arrived from China which I have yet to work out how to use. The instructions are in Chinese (not even the usual chinglish in writing that's so small that you need a dissection microscope to read it) and these sorts of things from china always seem to be flakey and unreliable and nearly impossible to set-up. Once I got the app working on my 'phone and it looked for the Bluetooth device is said "sometimes it won't work." Great. :evil:

At my home apiary, I have some hives close enough to the house that they are in bluetooth range; I've been comtemplating whether I could implant a battery powered bluetooth sensor in the middle of the brood nest next autumn and see when brooding would stop and then start again. Not for any other reason than for interests sake. I guess I have several months to try to get the thing working!

:) Welcome to the forum!
 #5937  by Alfred
 15 Mar 2020, 12:51
As the forum luddite I would question the need for paying too much attention to temps,especially in this country where dampness is the real meteorological spectre.
North Alaskan bees are put in refrigeration units to protect them from cold but I would hazard a guess that we're a bit away fro that just yet!
Perhaps humidity sensors could be trialled
 #5938  by NickWilliams
 15 Mar 2020, 13:19
Thanks everyone for your replies.
I accept now that it is difficult to know where the cluster is, and that a cold reading might not be a diaster, BUT, a warm reading would show that the bees are alive. This is nice to know - many of my friends have lost colonies in the winter.
Replying to AdamD specifically, I have a temparature monitor from Blue Maestro, which is British and works well with bluetooth from my iphone, except that now, I don't know where in the hive to put it, as we have agreed.
Thanks
Nick
 #5941  by AdamD
 16 Mar 2020, 13:35
Nick, I did see a British device - but chose to waste my money on a different one! :lol:
 #5973  by nealh
 18 Mar 2020, 16:29
I have been monitoring mine for heat and they are all very warm, lifted the roofs off today and placed my palm on the CB even the very small colonies are producing very good heat.
 #5977  by AndrewLD
 18 Mar 2020, 19:29
nealh wrote:
18 Mar 2020, 16:29
I have been monitoring mine for heat and they are all very warm, lifted the roofs off today and placed my palm on the CB even the very small colonies are producing very good heat.
Me too. I have a slab of insulation on the coverboard and lifting it to place a hand on the board it seems an easy way of telling if all is well. Next week might be warm enough to lift the coverboard and see if I am right.
 #5993  by AdamD
 20 Mar 2020, 10:41
AndrewLD wrote:
18 Mar 2020, 19:29

I have a slab of insulation on the coverboard and lifting it to place a hand on the board it seems an easy way of telling if all is well. Next week might be warm enough to lift the coverboard and see if I am right.
We can only imagine how much heat is lost if there's just a 5 mm piece of plywood over the colony compared to a thick slab of insulating material. "Back in the day" beekeepers used to use bags of 'chaff' or other suitable insulants and it seems that the 'ventilate at all costs' practice only came about at around the end of the 2nd world war.