A hive using condensation

Hello readers,

Today I want to write an article about temperature and condensation within the hive.  I want to point out that I have not done any research to support my claims here, this is all knowledge I read elsewhere and gut feeling.

Introduction

I want to start by stating what I know, which is very little, and I might be wrong.
I believe there are 2 temperatures (Celcius) that are important within a hive.
The first and most obvious number is 35°, the heat needed to sustain the brood and let it hatch.
The second temperature that is of importance is 12°.  The lower threshold for bees to remain alive in a comfortable way, when they don’t have brood to take care off.  They might survive temperatures below that, don’t get me wrong, but if the cluster drops below 12°, in my opinion, there is something wrong.

These two numbers are what I believe the ‘constant’ values you will see in a hive.  Brood cycle = 35; winter cluster = 12. No matter what the outside temperature is, one of these two values will remain more or less constant within the cluster - either the winter cluster (12°) or the cluster of bees that’s nursing the brood (35°).
Temperatures outside that cluster will rise above or drop below the given values this will cause a    side effect: Condensation.  Looking at the definition of the word condensation we find:

Water which collects as droplets on a cold surface when humid air is in contact with it

The conversion of a vapour or gas to a liquid. (a reaction in which two molecules combine to form a larger molecule, producing a small molecule such as H20 as a by-product - CHEMISTRY) or (the fusion of two or more images or ideas into a single composite or new image, as a primary process in unconscious thought exemplified in dreams. - PSYCHOLOGY)

A concise version of something, especially a text.

For us only the first two parts of the definition is relevant.  The forming of water as a result of humid air touching a colder surface.

Now I want to look at what this condensation does within most hives we use, opposed to what’s happening in a tree cavity.

How nature fixes condensation

Now that we know condensation is taking place in our hives, we should ask ourselves what this means, do bees need this condensation?
I think the humidity of a hive has an importance, especially during brood periods.  Given that warmer air can contain more moisture it is a given that the humidity during a brood period is going to be higher than outside this period.  What the ideal percentage of water in the air inside a hive is during both periods, I have no clue. But do the bees need the condensation? I don’t think so.  In fact, in a tree the hot air, generated by the cluster, will rise, touch the ceiling, in this case the inner side of the tree and water droplets will form. I believe that, even when the tree is dead, the texture of the wood, containing capillary channels, will suck up the moisture, preventing those droplets to fall down on the bees, where in most hives we use, the water droplets are not absorbed by the ceiling of the hive, causing a pool of water to be formed on said ceiling.  If the roof of that hive is not sloped, and most hives I know are place level on the ground with a flat rooftop, the pool of water will find its way down under the influence of gravity. The droplets are going to fall down more or less where they are formed and start forming a pool. This is above the bees that generate the heat. This means the droplets will land on the bees, making them wet and cooling them off. This works counterproductive, does not happen in a natural bee cavity and should be addressed.

The climate the hive is in also has an effect on condensation inside the hive.  Condensation does not appear to be an issue in warmer climates; The air outside is warmer and dryer and as a result the passive circulation of air is more effective.  The dry air outside, coming in contact with the more humid air inside the hive, will absorb some of the moisture, preventing condensation.

Effects of condensation in most hive-types

Worst possible effect for your bees?  They cool off and die due to the condensation falling on top of them.
Other effects include better conditions for disease organisms, fungi and molds to grow inside the hive.

How do we fix this now

As I am a new beekeeper my knowledge is still limited, and as far as I know, only one main technical solution is applied.  The inner cover is made so air can flow through and the bottom of the hive is comprised of a screen. A circulation of air is created to remove the hot air containing the moisture out of the hive whilst attempting to trap the heat inside the hive, not an easy thing to do with the chimney effect at work.  The heat is trapped by a barrier of material that has a hygroscopic property as well as some isolation value; Wood shavings, pieces of cloth, newspaper, cardboard clippings, hay …

I am not in favor of this practice.  In a natural environment there is no airflow other than what the bees create themselves by fanning or the convection current caused by the difference in temperatures.  But I can’t deny it’s an effective method.

Another ‘practical’ solution is to tilt the hive, letting the pool formed on the ceiling slide off to one side before gravity makes the droplets fall and preventing water to form a pool on the bottom of the hive.  The direction to tilt the hive is towards the hive entrance, ensuring that if water does pool up on the bottom of the hive, it can flow out.

Can’t we use this condensation to our advantage?

My first thoughts were to create a hive with a roof that let’s the condensation flow out of the hive through an air gap in the walls.  I was thinking of a sloped cover with the bottom part, above the air gap, stripped from any insulation, whilst the rest of the roof would be insulated, trapping the warmth inside.  Then the water could be guided outside of the hive through the air gap on the bottom of the hive.

But then I thought, bees collect water, so why not keep the moisture accessible to the bees?  Of course we would have to keep the water circulating to prevent bad organisms to grow in it. So in draining the water, maybe we could use that water for other purposes?  Providing drinking pools for chickens or other creatures? Providing water for plants?

Contemplating further on this, why not make this water provision adaptable so whilst flowing down into a water station it picks up sugar on it’s way down to feed the bees when needed?
I would have to experiment with the following

is a dripping system through a sugar cone actually achievable, or will the water close off the sugar by making it hard on the surface 

how much sugar is absorbed by the water, since most beekeepers feed their bees with a solution between 1 or 2 parts sugar to 1 part water.

How long does it take before the solution is spoilt

Does it need an overflow?

Conclusion

Of course all this is dreaming out loud, since this is only my 2nd year of beekeeping and I’m still looking at creating my locally adapted bee, untreated, that can survive without the help of the beekeeper.
So if you see merit in my thoughts and have the experience and time to set up this kind of project, please do so, let me know how it went!

For myself,...   I’ll have to keep it in mind for later.
Who knows, maybe this winter I’ll find the time to make some Nucleus hive with this system of feeding built into it.

So that’s what I have on my mind on this topic.  And now it’s out here, for you to do with as you please

Bob Out

A day with beekeepers...

Hello readers,

This Sunday, August 25th was a day where I was surrounded by other beekeepers.

First I drove out to Kalmthout, where Belgium has a beekeeping museum.  Unfortunately I didn't have time to visit the museum itself.  I was there for an event with two speakers.  All I got to enjoy was a hot tea outside the conference room:

The first speaker 

was Rob Peulen and he addressed the relationship between the beekeeper, the beekeeping associations and the gouvernement.  The topic was moulded on a more narrow platform, a better titel would have been : Beekeeping and Taxes.  This did not make the topic any less interesting though!  As I have started my own beekeeping enterprise I was interested to hear what he had to say.  To keep it short; it comes down to this: As a beekeeper you don't need to report your expenses and income, as most beekeepers don't make a profit, but it is wise to keep records as if you would have a business.
For myself I must remember that even if I don't make a profit, but start out as a loss-making enterprise, the tax inspection should accept my expenses! (Even though they'll likely protest)

The Second speaker 

was Erik Goris, a beekeeper that is looking to keep bees in a more 'natural' way.  He told us his story and musings on the topic as he's a 4th generation beekeeper that in one winter went from 40 hives to only 6.  The occurrence was disheartening and Erik considered stopping his beekeeping activities altogether.  But a it is with beekeepers, the call to work with bees was louder than the crying of his heart, so he picked up beekeeping again whilst looking for answers on what went wrong.

He focused his attention on smaller cells and contacted several scientists toward this end.  He was also interested in the nutrition, and why he found undigested pollen in the intestinal tract of bees.  It was there that he heard that bees can't actually digest pollen, they need other mechanisms to start breaking down the egg-whites so they can digest them further themselves.  It was there he made the assumption that by using acids or other chemical products we might destroy the very mechanisms the bees need to help them with their nutrition.

With this information he set out to keep bees without treating them, a work that kept confronting him with setbacks, very much so that he was about to throw in the towel and stop beekeeping yet again on the premise that his bees didn't survive that winter.  He now jokes he should have threatened his bees with stopping sooner, since all but one hive survived that winter.  A loss, but an acceptable one this time.

His work included breeding bees with traits of sensitive hygiene.  He was looking for bees that pull out diseased larvae, for bees that groom each other.  He used artificial insemination to speed up the process of selection towards varroa tolerance.

Now he only treats the hives if he sees none of these signs.

I would very much like to hear for Erik again in a more in depth conversation some time...

The afternoon get-together

After the seminary I drove back towards my own region, a short drive of 1 hour and 30 minutes.  Upon arrival I noticed I was on the late side of things...  Roger Devos was already speaking to the members that accepted his invitation for a get together.  He was going to replace a queen with another and demonstrated on how he cuts the wingtip of a queen.

Another member of the beekeeping association in Oudenaarde, Andre Boonaert, gave a crash course on how to use the Snelgrove Board and how he very much appreciates this method.

He also showcased a device that looked like a sphere with a mouth to put into a skep entrance.  It looked ancient, as it was rusty.  The sphere was constructed out of metal wire, spaced apart very much like a Queen-excluder.  He instructed us it was used to put into the hive entrance at such a time where the drones left the skep, as the drones are larger than a worker bee they couldn't get outside the sphere, where the workers could.  So instead of cutting drone-comb, this was the method to get rid of drones in skep-beekeeping.

Another device he has made himself and showcased was a swarmbox, with ventilation holes for transport and with a queen-excluder screen that could be closed off by opening the ventilation holes, preventing from bees to leave the box.

We had a drink afterwards and as I was getting ready to take my leave Roger asked me if I had seen his apiary.  He transformed a horse-box into a 9m long apiary with a huge amount of storage space.  All bees Roger has are Buckfast bees, and he advocates that 'brand' of bees to all that want to listen.

This was my beekeeping sunday!

See you next time!

Bob Out