I'm wondering if you're going to edit the videos to insert "Future Jim" to address some of the concerns raised in the comments (e.g. bees or mice chewing through the sides, the see through top becoming more opaque over time, the use of foam versus wood, etc).
@@timothyodonnell8591 I have an even better idea! And I'm going to try it out pretty soon. I've had the idea and desire to do video responses to comments for years now, but I didn't want to flood my channel with short random videos of me answering questions. I like the idea of video replies because I can explain something on video in seconds, but it takes forever to type out a complicated idea. So I just started a second channel that will be a receptacle for shorts, news, behind the scenes, updates, extended clips, etc. Not so much a "dumping ground," but a lot less curated than this channel and all the videos will be one-take unedited type videos. RU-vid Shorts is a perfect medium to reply to specific RU-vid comments, so there will be a lot of that. So I'm going to be experimenting with that over the coming weeks.
We use poly boxes here I norway and the bees do not chew on the boxes. Ants can chew if the poly boxes are made out of a softer material. If we have softer boxes we use paint to stop chewing.
Hi Jim! It's nice to see you back and making more bee-related videos. It's always fun to see your innovations. Your barn and workshop are a dream come true. Your craftsmanship is always impeccable! Thanks for sharing, and I wish you a fantastic 2023 with your bees :) I'm absolutely with you on the venting, keep it up, we'll be watching :)
Jim, For the sealed insulation term to replace the phrase "all in", it might be better to call it a "Diving bell" or a "Submarine with a bottom entrance". (or for those science nuts, an "upside-down Dewar flask".). :)
WOW I only found your channel today and watched your first video from 7 years ago and have watched your progression and honestly you’ve blown my mind with how cleverly thought out, designed and built your version 2. You give me confidence that I can and will be successful with my bees when they arrive this Spring. I have been learning what I need to do from other beekeepers in our local area but I have watched so many RU-vid videos on what I may need to do and by far yours has been the most enlightening. Great job mate :) I know what I am going to be doing for the next week….binge watching all of your videos :) Just marvellous. Cheers Theresa - South Coast Australia
Decided to insulate my 2 hives, first year beekeeper. I basically built boxes of 2" insulation and 3/4" wood that go around my double deep hives. I did not insulate bottom but add 3/4 wood beneath to extend to edge of my insulated box. I then built new top covers with 4" of foam. They sit directly on my inner covers. We have been to -26° F with -65° wind-chill. So far I see live bees at the entrance on warmer days!
It is so good to see someone working to fix issues instead of falling back on "That's how everyone does it, so it must be the best way". There will always be push pack from people who don't like change, but you're seeing positive results. Keep up the good work.
Discovery and advancements never happen unless someone is willing to sail their ship out of the harbor. You are breaking new ground all the time! Your journey is exciting and keeps it fresh. Rock on, bro.
Welcome back. Not sure you'll ever see this comment in the sea of comments, but maybe others will read and comment. Please understand that I love your creativity and experimentation, and I hope you keep it up. I'm an Alaskan beekeeper, so I'm very familiar with the benefits of insulation, and I've also experimented with plexiglass inner covers. As several others have pointed out, I hope that is high density foam you're using. If it's standard foam insulation for human houses, they'll destroy it in no time flat. My first year I built a nuc out of 2" foam, and it was ruined in less than a week. If I put foam in a hive now (say, a follower board), I cover it with packing tape to prevent chewing. That wouldn't work with a box, because it would also inhibit propolis deposits, which are important to colony health. I've also experimented with plexiglass inner covers. I loved them for the first season, but over a multiple seasons the wax and propolis deposits significantly reduce visibility. You could still estimate cluster size, but could not determine if a frame had capped syrup/honey or not. My attempts to clean them only scratched them up, but maybe you can figure out something I couldn't. Finally, your upper entrance, (overhead) ventilation, and inner cover observations are spot on. It may not matter much in warmer places, but in Alaska, helping colonies retain heat is critical to overwintering. After some experimentation, I only use Reflectix as an inner cover. It's easy to peel off, even then the bees are doing their best to glue it down. It also forms a great gasket for the top box (in winter, it's filled with insulation) and/or outer cover.
I love the air gap in the winter top !!! Awesome (a Yurt-like idea). I've built two Barn Hives 1.0+ versions (waiting for deploy in 2023) with some similar changes to the bottom board - sealed, but no screen, solid. I will likely add a drain wick (post build - like they use in masonry). I expect to build 2 more before bee season) (I like how you did that - great idea). One thing about outer skins of just insulation - and ant's - you've said you don't have a lot of ant problems, but once they get into the insulation, it becomes a tunneling project for them, and they will build a home in there. Just like under your bottom insulation. (good idea with chloroplast under your hives too) Be prepared - once there's food in your yard and a warm place to stay - the ants will seize on that opportunity and eventually you'll have a lot more ant colonies around your bee yard. (been there, had that). Just like bees, ants, (and mice too) can smell food, and they unfortunately can operate in colder weather than bees. Might be worth considering some other outer shield method for the insulation, other than just 2 coats of paint. I've used insulation before and have had mice and ants tunnel. There might be a type of paint that is insect resistant (but not an insecticide). "Haint blue" or "dirt dauber blue" that may add copper-in-the-paint or something. Keep up the great work - Looking forward to chatting w/you again. --- Your easterly neighbor 20 miles away. ...Don...
The one thing I have to say about styrofoam hives (made of extruded foam, not the ones made in moulds) is that bees love to chew the foam. While the problem is escalated if they see light through a crack, they will chew it no matter what to make more space. The most problematic area for this is 100% the entrance which I can see you've thought of. I hope you don't have too many problems with this. Also another problem with foam is that waxmoth larva love to chew it and make tunnels into it making it impossible to get rid of them. Where I'm from we don't have hive beetles (thank god) so no clue what those are like in foam. Also having no moisture absorbing material in the hive might be a problem in the late autum or winter. While the insulation will keep the temperature relatively stable the bees still won't keep the whole box warm in the middle of the winter. Hot moist air will raise from the cluster, cool as it touches the outer wall and condensation will form. While as you've said the bees need some water to drink during winter, I'd be more afraid of stuff growing on the walls. Remember bees ventilate during most of the year but when in cluster they don't so some moisture absorption might be better than none. The last thing about foam is you have to put a UV protective layer on it or it will degrade rapidly. I've made about 300 foam hives so far (30mm or 1 1/4 thick foam) so all of this is in good faith and from experience :) All that being said I really hope these hives work out for you :) Now for the solutions to these problems... while your upgrade from v1 to v2 did create better insulated hives I believe that the core hive of v1 is better for all the things I mentioned above. The main solution is a way to protect the foam from bees and waxmoth larvae as well as adding a moisture buffer. And this is also where I'm currently stuck with my foam hives. While making a sort of wood foam sandwitch like in v1 works it takes a lot of material. I'd much prefer a solution that can be applied to the foam and form a strong coat, be cheap and non toxic to bees...
Have you come up with a solution yet? The only thing I can think of is to line the interior with thin plywood, but if it's too thin (1/8" or 1/4") it might warp, and it will add more weight and complexity.
Realistically we have 3 options, wood, plastic or metal. Each of the 3 have pros and cons but I do think you need to protect the inside and outside of the foam from the bees and other wildlife. Moisture wise you could always set up the top part to absorb it with cloth or something during winter(which I feel would cause the most issues as the bees are inactive). So a plastic sandwich could work in that case, but then you have to worry about warping and damage from the sun. Wood has similar issues from getting damp but it might be easier to manage with a coat of paint or oil layer as protection. Metal has the issue of absorbing to much heat from the sun, so I feel like that wouldn't be that good for the bees, but maybe a plastic/metal or wood/metal hybrid protective layer may work too. It would provide much more protection from wildlife. Honestly though I'm not to sure what would be the best option, even if you took the cost of it all out of it.
I followed his directions and took a standard hive and covered it with 2" foam, bottom, sides, front, back. I had coreplast and put that over the foam and screwed it in using 3" screws. It worked well. Since the coreplast is corregated, I caulked the top and the bottom and any areas where there was an opening. I took self adhesive vinyl wall paper and covered the bottom, and 1/2 way up the walls. I did the same for the top down. There are no holes or openings. Lets see how this works out. My first hive I have to add the caulk and the vinyl self adhesive wall paper. Of course the wallpaper was pretty with flowers. I know, I know, bees don't care about what the hive looks like. But........I do and sometimes i get carried away. 🙂 Lets see how they do this winter. I wouldn't use the coreplast again though. Home Depot has a thin plastic sheet that might work out better. Or maybe just self stick vinyl wall paper.
I missed the bees. Crazy how long this journey has been ^^ I was fresh out of school when all of this started. Now the bees have their luxury panorama roof villa and I'm still working to get my two room flat XD
This looks like a fabulous improvement on the traditional Langstroth system. Especially for beekeepers in the Northern latitudes. 100% survival through the winter is....WOW!!!! Several amateur beekeeper friends gave up when they found nothing but dead bees every Spring. This seems to replicate the kinds of conditions that allow wild hives to make it through brutal winters in Canada, New England, and the Upper Midwest. So cool how the bees told you that they didn't want ventilation at the top, plugging up the holes you had provided. Listen to the bees and they will tell us how to help them. Hope your newer configuration will avert swarming and allow you to build up and do splits in the early Summer.
Hey Vino! Great job. Wow!!! We all know by now that these pine boxes we keep bees in needed an upgraded decades ago. So well done. I’m a firm believer in double-deep frames, as well as no upper entrances. Bees will tell you they only need one bottom entrance. And speaking of helping the bees regulate temps and humidity-I just learned about the HiveGate. Great job.
You seem to be like a pioneer on this field. People like You are pushing the envelop and so leading to new discoveries. These being said I will stick to my wooden hives for some reasons.
Cool. Thanks. I’m sharing what works for me. If it inspires people to try something new, I’m happy. Maybe someone else gets an idea from me and takes this to another level. I just like sharing.
Wow Jim! What a wonderful design. My name is also James/ Jim. I'm a beekeeper in Japan. I have just started to make all of my own equipment including the frames mostly because of the cost of equipment here in Japan. I can't wait to watch your construction videos for BB 2.0. I WILL be making them for my bees. I'm also really excited about your usage of polystyrene. That is so much cheaper than wood but still keeps the bees warm and happy. Thanks for sharing! God bless!
Hey Jim, spot on regarding ventilation. I have been sliding a polyisocyanurate "sleeve" over my winter colonies for several years (in Connecticut). They are completely insulated top and bottom as well. There is just a short 1 1/2" (diameter) piece of pvc as the entrance. I make a top out of the poly as well, replacing the telescoping lid. So, no drafts at all. I have not seen any problems with moisture, and they use less resources throughout the winter. Awesome and inspiring to see what you are working on!
The huge problem with polyisocyanurate in northern climates is the foaming agent which starts to fail at 50 F thus losing it's insulation properties. I'm continually taken back that more people don't know that. Great for southern keepers in hot weather...
I found the info on polyiso below 50, but so far I have had great results with it. May try a different insulation for additional colonies going forward. Thanks for the heads up.
Wonderful. People say I don't know what I'm talking about. But replicating a natural environment as much as possible usually tends to work out better. Glad to hear it.
I really enjoyed watching the build of Bee Barn 1.0 and your reasoning for building these insulated hives. I'm looking forward to the series on Bee Barn 2.0. Thank you Jim
Welcome back! You have been missed on RU-vid. So excited with V2.0 and what is coming. I'll save my thoughts until after all four videos - if I can control myself. Be well Jim!
Julie, If you are a "maker", just start building, and experimenting. With insulation (vs wood), its a lot simpler. And instead off plexiglass tops, I've seen people use thick sheets of plastic.
Incredible job. I can see the amount of thought you have put into this design. This is a game changer for all bees, not just the northern ones. You have created a beehive that mimics their natural environment based on empirical evidence. They will feel safe and secure which should translate into healthier more productive hives. I know the bees are happy as was evident by the 20,000 smiling little bee faces looking up at us when you showed us the inspect-ability at the end on a 40F day. No Cluster, imagine that :-). That is exactly the way my bees behave in their heated hives, they mill around and use fewer resources. You have created the same outcome without heaters. Your bees resource consumption will be cut in half. It's great to have you back in the game. You always have so much to offer and I cant wait to see the frames. P.S. I am extremely jealous of your shop. Two thumbs up!
@@TheRainHarvester I am in Georgia. Forgive for hocking my channel Jim :-) www.youtube.com/@BugFarmerBees That in mind, with Jim's new design heaters are obsolete(ish).
I am in Central Texas and I believe they would actually benefit the bees in July and August because it would cut down on heat gain (both solar and thermal) an would preserve more of the overnight cooling. I would, however give them some ventilation opportunity for the 100 degree days.
Not a beekeeper yet but as someone who’s been researching I think you might have the best design for the harsh climate I’m in! Can’t wait to experiment and see what works for me 🐝
I'm curious to hear how you like the Styrofoam. I've heard from some Alaskan keepers that they can easily be damaged when cracking the boxes apart or pressing against the sides to center frames, etc. , since they obviously give where wood doesn't. But I love what you're doing. Although it wouldn't work for my goals and climate, I think you're definitely onto something for your area and goals! Excited to hear how things go in the future.
5:36 There are several types of Layens hives, the most commonly known is horizontal but vertical Layens hives with supers do exist and have been around for a while, they are called Layens pastorale and Layens divisible. These hives were very common in the past and are still used in some regions of Europe today and I know that in the cold regions of France these hives used to be insulated with a thick layer of straw or reeds on the outside.
@@vinofarm Yes, the Layens Pastorale is composed of a body containing 9 or 10 typical Layens sized frames, and the supers uses 8 or 9 half-sized layens frames. As for the Layens Divisible it is basically made of Pastoral supers so it is intended to use half-sized layens frames but it is possible to put full sized layens frames in two stacked Layens supers.
@@nikolaasp2968 I know a lot of people look at my frames and immediately compare them to Layens frames, but mine are actually about 50% larger. My observation with how the queens are using my frames is that bigger is better for them. Also, bigger frames means fewer frames for the beekeeper to worry about. Fewer frames to pull during inspections, etc. It’s interesting to hear about hives I never knew about and it’s common for people to seek similarities and make comparisons, but I am very happy with what I’ve built. It’s basically an extra deep Langstroth hive. And from what I’ve read about Langstroth, the design is closer to what Langstroth envisioned and built than the typical “Langstroth” thin hives that are used today.
I am looking forward to see your results this spring. With the version I made off your 1.0 design last year I did notice that the bees chewed into the polystyrene board I used as the follower. Not sure if yours did that too. At the end of the season last year, I thought I lost my colony as I never saw the queen again and there was no brood in the frame. We had a cold, rainy fall so I didn’t disturb the colony after I harvested my honey. I peeked inside in October before our temps dropped consistently below freezing and found there was still a large number of bees in the hive. They took feed up until the third week of October., at which point I filled up my top cover with insulation and haven’t looked again. I have a temperature / humidity sensor up in the lid, essentially in their “attic”, above the inner cover. Even when we had temps below zero, or single digits (F) they have kept that space at almost 40 F. It hasn’t mattered if it is 30F outside or 5F, the temps stay within about a ten degree range. I did see it dip to 30F at one point and was concerned they were done. The next day they had it up to almost 50. The temps rise when the humidity rises. My guess that is when they are working to increase the temp in the hive and respirate more. The humidity inside the hive is completely independent of the humidity outside. It won’t be looking inside the hive until we get a 40 degree day in March. If they make it, this will be my first successful overwinter. I am guessing you will have great success. I may adapt my hive to the plexiglass inner cover too. That seems like a great way to check on them without completely exposing them to the cold. Keep it up!
Looks really good! Lots of well thought out Ideas. The strap ratchet seems fiddly, how about affixing your strap around the bottom half of the barn and put two D-rings just below the upper lid so you don't need to chase the lower ends, then swing the free end over the top and cinch tight with the D-rings (I'm sure you've seen pants belts made this way). Velcro would get debris stuck to it over time. Integrate your strap foam protectors to the lids.Can the rear tray door be attached to the tray so it doesn't get lost (washers and bolts and/or exterior-grade tape)? How about a wide apron strip of the black sheeting on the stand under the bee entrance slot to keep mice from climbing up the wood base? A couple of tweaks. Looking forward to seeing the build.
Love watching smaller keepers like myself finding ways of battling our northern winters. Took some tips from bee barn 1.0 with some changes and been working great this winter. We had a bit of warm up in southern ont. and they were out flying and a higher population than normal! Missed the videos .
Perfect Clarity and concise information about ventilation and insulation and I fully agree. I have been using over sized brood frames and they are great (but 10 frames) I have permeant foam insulation in my roof all year too. It works and it’s great. I never liked your inner cover glad that’s gone. I’m sad to see you’ve gone full poly. Coz you’ve basically made an over sized Lyson poly hive. I’ll be keeping a wood and poly sandwich. So I can fire scorch the inside when cleaning. I drew out designs following your problems video with cold bridging and I drew up basically a shouldered roof just like yours. But it is suitable all year. You don’t need to remove it when summer shines, mine will look a little silly when there is 3 honey supers under it but it’s perfectly functional that way. Also you don’t need to store 1 roof or the other at different times of the year. BUT I DIDNT have the air gap. That’s a good idea. (I’d end loose the top air gap cavity in summer when I’m honey supering, but that’s fine)
I'm trying all foam. And yes, it's an oversized Lyson hive. I brought the ~R-5 Lyson to about R-15 for year round insulation. Remember... this s 2.0. I'm not done yet!
Built my bee barn last winter, put bees in it in early April. Right now we have had weeks of 20F with 30-50 MPH winds followed by inches of rain and wind. I put my ears up to the hive and you can just hear the hum of the bees, they are just hanging out waiting for a nicer day. From my hive to yours, thank you for all your insights and help.
Jim!! So glad your back!! I can’t tell you how happy I am that your back in my beekeeping life, I definitely need some motivation in that part of my life. I’ve changed a lot of my thoughts on beekeeping and I feel like your one of the RU-vid beekeepers that I enjoy most in thoughts and entertainment.
Good to see you again Jim. I checked back a few times over a couple months, glad to see you're abck at it. No doubt these vids take time to edit and compile.
Well, this is very exciting, especially since I don't have a huge trove of woodworking tools at my disposal. I wonder if you'll also have specs for your nucs? Glad you've been watching the Mandalorian during your down time! Question also about propolis or burr comb on the plexiglass?
A complete inspiration, I'm new to beekeeping, with all the ups and downs that come with it. I built something very similar to your bee barn 1.0, and the bees have been thriving. Not just thriving killing it. In fact, after the massive -50 wind chills here in WI. It kept me up at night with the cost of packages reaching $350 in my area. That is a ton to lose to me. Yet, I made a trip out and all my hives made it. Not going to lie, I had a tear in my eye... I lost 3 hives the year before. Anyway, I am lucky to have spent the time watching you. You have a great outlook on beekeeping, and your ability to look through an issue rather than excepting failure is an inspiration. Good luck, and you have earned my sub.
Remenber, if the bees have a lot of pollen/food when they come out in the spring, they Will swarm for sure. Keep Them “hungry” and they Will swarm less
As a Newbie to Bee Keeping, assisting a fellow Bee Keeper now going on my 3rd Season ( Im based In South Africa Season is +-(Nov -April). I Came across your Bee Barn Philosopy and after extensive deep dive of reading all the Theories, Your Bee Barn Resonates with me, and your Data proves its self Right. Looking forward to your Build Video Tutorials to commit to Building my own very first Bee Hive/ Barn in the Coming Weeks. Thank you for sharing your journey and look forwards to collecting my own observations to grow and share your philosophies & |Theories. 👍🏼
From flow hive to a Langston replacement. This channel is someone going from an interest to doctoral level understanding of the bee keeping. Welcome back and I'm glad you are back!!
@@vinofarm I mean if you look at doctoral theses and what goes into them... it's observation, hypothesis, experimentation, and confirmation or rejection of the hypothesis. That's exactly what you're doing. The bees die in winter. The signs show that it may have been cold, may have been hunger, may have been both. The comments also suggested some possible causes at the time (like the cluster being so small they could only warm up a bit of honey above them to eat, they can't move sideways because of the cold). After a lot of thinking about our observations and possible hypotheses to draw from them, we follow the hypothesis that the cold is key and insulate the beehive - experimentation. Next winter, the bees survive better than ever - observation done, hypothesis confirmed, problem solved. (I also love the little tidbit that they plugged up the vent hole and you just went "Okay, no vent hole then") But now there's moisture. Hypothesis: the top cover isn't insulated enough, draws the cold in, and that causes condensation. Experiment: attach some foam to some of the nucs to see how well it survives the weather to make sure we can use it for the whole hive design. Observation: The foam is fine, so we build the new hive, and we put the bees through another winter... bees are better than ever. Observation complete, hypothesis confirmed, problem solved. How many times will you go through this process before accepting that what you're doing is definitely worth some kind of academic merit? 😉
Thanks for your video and innovations! I’ve been using foam board to insulate my hives for a couple years now and one problem you might find is that bees sometimes eat away foam board! I built horizontal hives that would accept two medium supers side by side on top of the brood chamber. I inserted 1.5 inch thick foam board inside my top covers and I discovered that either from friction with bee bodies, or industry on the part of the bees, the foam board was slowly being eaten away. To address this problem, I used a roller and wax coated the interior surface with bees wax and that seemed to solve the problem. You might want to consider painting the interior of one of your new bee barns with wax as an experiment. It would be cool to see if it makes a difference with your setup. Good luck and keep up the great work!
I wondered the same thing. You could trim a little of the foam and add a thin wood frame on top that will help distribute the pressure and maintain rigidity while not adding much overall weight.
This is literally revolutionary for beekeeping in long-wintering areas. I just need to come up with a better beetle solution for down here in the deep south
You gotta respect the amount of work going into this, not just the bee barns, but the videos too, scripting, filming, cutting and production is a hassle. And Jim could easily just keep all his ideas and solutions to himself, maybe capitalize on it by selling educational videos or stuff like that, but he's obviously dedicated to sharing, open-sourcing the bee barns and advancing bee-keeping as a whole. And you can still capitalize on some of those things by offering convenience, don't want to build your own frames? Maybe buy them from Vino Farm. Need hints on where to buy some stuff? Vino Farm has affiliate links. That way you don't need to pay Jim, you can do everything he does and he'll tell you how in a number of well produced and easy to follow videos, but the option to make your life easier and send some money towards the person who shared his ideas is always there.
This is very sweet, but just watching the videos is really awesome and always appreciated. Next best thing is SHARING them. I'm just happy you're all here! Thank you.
I'm not shocked at all!! I knew you were brewing up a new hive and it would bee worth it! I still want to see all you've done in YOUR barn though!! Go Vino bee's!! See you in the spring! Smiles and blessings...
As a double deep beekeeper in Western Mass, my back and I are really looking forward to your upcoming videos - i'm ready to build some Bee Barns. Congratulations and kudos for thinking outside the box and for being so generous with your thoughts and ideas.
Your bee barn design is so successful that you had to make them bigger/wider. Wow! You have come so far from the single deep box over winter. Great video!
Very cool! i started watching you when you brought home the 2 hives from your neighbor. I knew then you cared for the bees and the things you did for them. This is just above and beyond. Are we going to see a bee dance again? Glad to have you back, you were missed! GO BALBOA!! (if you cant tell I love how that hive survives.)
Just rediscovering deep hives and hive frames from centuries old beekeepers. Lazutin, Ukrainian Lewicki, Dadant, Layens, Ciesielski, Galiano, Vaschenko, Dokuchaev, Dolinowski, Mochalkin all promoted deep frame hives for maximum brood health and wintering. You just haven't learned the last step. You still have supers. Deep frame horizontal hives eliminate lifting any heavy supers. Try some of Lazutin and Sharaskin's hive designs.
Looks good Jim . I have been doing the plexiglass for 4 years . Looks good . The only issue I had with plexiglass about the outside inch gets a little moisture . It works . I made my boxes so if you need to add feed you can pull a small piece of plexiglass out . Add feed close back . You will get people that tell you it won’t work . I quit talking about plexiglass . Because all the haters . Good job
@@vinofarm Mine is set up a little different. I have a third plywood then plexiglass and then another third plywood. So I can take the plexiglass out I can put a bucket where the plexiglass was but it’s the bucket still sits on plywood. I hope that makes sense. So I only use an 8th inch plexiglass
I have them set up so I can add sugar bricks also . I’ve been doing them this way for 4 winters . 100 hives my average loss is 4 percent .( Louisville ky area)
Moisture in a hive is not a terrible thing itself. Condensation accumulating above the bees and falling back down on the cluster in winter is the real problem. I solved this by tilting my foam hives with the entrance at the lower end. This way the condensation accumulates and then runs down the front wall and out the entrance. Inhabe a platform on top of my hive stand that is attached with hinges and I simply put a 2x4 block of wood underneath one end of the platform to accomplish this. I am in Nova Scotia.
Jim... Welcome back! You've been missed. Two comments/suggestions: 1) Bees chew on foam. Either coat/laminate the inside surfaces or know that you may likely need to rebuild/repair your boxes often 2) Many beekeepers are of the thought that the decision to swarm is often made by the colony in Oct/Nov of the previous year. Many of our club are preemptively splitting vs. being forced to do so reactively. Wally Shaw's "An Apiary Guide to Swarm Control" is highly recommended reading.
I think you need to start selling DIY kits - Get someone to mass produce all the parts and ship with glue and instructions - Build it and they will buy it Jim ! I can wait to see the build videos ! Happy New Year :) ------- If there is a giveaway on one of the boxes Jim I'd love to be added and I'd test it along with my homemade Temp/Humidity sensors and see if I can see the difference in a regular hive configuration/setup and yours
It's very appreciated that you are sharing your research and designs with everyone, but please consider patenting your design before some unscrupulous and greedy "entrepreneurs" steal your designs, and patent them for themselves. You can always continue to share, but at least you'll be protected from someone suing you and preventing you from using your own intellectual property. It has happened many times to other inventors.
I have been anxiously awaiting your evolution of the bee barn, and I've gotta say, you did not disappoint! The clear lid is game changer, as is pretty much everything about it. You are right; this is the way!
You will need Bee Barn 3.0. First, the frame is not enough deep. The bees need more honey above them especially during spring when the temperature is too variable. Just add an additional one deep size. Also, your entrance could be in a "warm" direction, not along the frames but perpendicular. Good job. Soon I'll publish my book about "the most natural beehive" and I'll send it to you.
Tell me you’ve been reading Keeping Bees with a Smile without saying it. In this case the frames work just fine. The extra insulated nest box of the bee barn means way less honey consumption to maintain thermo-regulation. The double deep/Lazutin frames are built to take account of resource storage for hive bodies modeled after a regular tree cavity in concern to insulation with about 5-7R value. The bee barn is about triple the R value, likely somewhere around 25R. When the math adds up the bees would then need 3x less resources to maintain thermo-regulation over a winter period as compared to a normal double deep/Lazutin horizontal hive sitting next door it it over the same winter period. However you are onto something here. I believe that the performance of the colony would be even better if the two technologies were combined. I’m talking giant number of bees and an incredible honey production. Using a long horizontal blueprint and building it with the hive body design of the bee barn for insulation, while using double deep frames would increase the hive to the next level. Like those huge hives they find in the wild sometimes with 2-3 queens working several brood nests in a giant cavity. Also having the horizontal hive style where the nest area can be expanded and shrunk depending on needs of a colony would further increase the ability to bring new colony populations up, or also allow you to do a “split” by just sliding some frames around, adding a divider board and throwing in some empty frames when you find queen cells. One hive could essentially hold 2-3 colonies or one massive colony depending on how you find the bees progression. Then having them all be able to service the supers above like a normal two queen Langstroth system. I’ll send you a video once I build it if you send me your book.
Good to see ya back i have missed your content. sadly i am allergic to bees so this is as close as i can get to them without needing to go to the hospital. so thank you for that!
okay..... I just gotta try this. I am not one to jump out of the normal, ordinary style of beekeeping, but I will try this just because it looks like fun. Thank you!
I want to add that you will catch a lot of flack about venting out excess moisture. when this happens point out that it's not moisture in the hive but condensation on the roof that drips down onto the bees that is the problem. stable temerature minimzes this too..
Styrofoam is super soft and easy to break but lite. If you want to build from wood and don't have problems with moisture try stabilized wood. It is not economic at all and heavy but built strong like a tank.
Hey Jim. Great to see you in action again. We were out near Red Apple Farm and I realized it's been a while since I've seen one of your videos. Really missed the content and glad to see you're "ok". Kudos for recognizing the potential thermal bridge issue and creating the air pocket, effectively making a thermal break.
Great job thanks for sharing this I cant afford to buy new hives but its got me thinking how to insulate my hives in a better way it is going to be great seeing the other videos have a blessed day
