From the founders
For our fourth live Q&A, we took on the season this whole hive was built for: winter. Dr. Jason Graham walked through setup, feeding, and the moisture question everyone worries about, then took an hour of your questions.
The theme that kept coming up: most of what you've been told to do for winter, you don't do here.
Watch the full recap below.
— The Primal Bee Team
What winter looks like on an insulated hive
Every fall the same advice comes around: wrap your hives, add a quilt box, fret about moisture. On an insulated hive, most of that is unnecessary, and some of it can work against you.
On our latest live Q&A, Dr. Jason Graham (about 20 years with bees, from the University of Delaware to the lab at the University of Florida) kept coming back to the insulation the hive already has. "Do you need to further insulate your Primal Bee hive? And the answer is no." A wooden hive runs about R-1, maybe R-7 with a jacket. In winter configuration, a Primal Bee hive sits at a minimum of R-50 on the walls. Thicker foam is part of that. So is the geometry of the nest and the tight sealing between the parts.
There's a trick on top of that. An empty super slotted between the feeder lid and the outer cover traps a layer of air, and "it really increases the R-value on the top of the hive. To about 140." It also lets you check your feeder without cracking open the brood nest in the cold.
Then there's condensation, the thing everyone fears about a sealed hive. Jason's answer: it's handled by design. The screen bottom board, rather than a solid one, keeps moisture from pooling and dripping back down onto the brood, and a cushion of still air underneath draws it out. A little condensation is even a good thing, because "that's their only source of water in the winter." It's a fine balance, and the hive was built around it.
He covered the rest of the setup too: closing one entrance and shrinking the other before the cold, why you leave honey with a super of insurance rather than reach for sugar, the 4:1 syrup recipe, why dry sugar and candy boards are out, and the cinder-block snow shelter that keeps the entrance clear.
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“My bees were doing great until I left them alone for a couple of months. My Lubbock hive was completely destroyed by wax moths. I knew they were in the area but had never seen them. They devastate a hive. My question now is how do I protect my other hive, the one in the Primal box? They look great, but so did my Lubbock bees. Do I need to burn the infested box? My brother says he can hook up a bug zapper for the moths. I’ve never seen a bee around a zapper, so maybe? Why is this so hard????”
Hi Bonnie,
I am so sorry to hear about your bees; wax moths can be absolutely devastating, and it is completely understandable that you are feeling heartbroken.
To quarantine the equipment, I'd remove the closed equipment from my apiary onto my driveway where I can more easily manage escapes. Then brush visible adult moths, larvae and pupae into a soapy water bucket. Then double bag & seal the equipment in the toughest ply drawstring contractor bags you can find.
Freezing is the only non-chemical method that reliably kills wax moth eggs, larvae, pupae, and adults deep inside silk tunnels and wood crevices.
Place all frames and supers in a deep freeze at 0°F (-18°C) or lower for at least 24 to 48 hours.
If freezer space is limited, freeze the frames in batches. In the meantime, keep unfrozen equipment double-bagged & sealed in heavy-duty contractor trash bags so larvae cannot escape or spread to other gear.
If freezer space is unavailable, or for additional insurance, you could also treat with Certan (B401 / B402), a biological control containing spores and protein crystals of Bacillus thuringiensis subsp. aizawai. It works strictly by ingestion: when newly hatched wax moth larvae chew treated comb, the endotoxin disrupts their digestive tract and kills them within hours. It is reported to leave zero chemical residue in wax or honey and be completely harmless to adult bees and honey bee larvae.
I'd avoid the bug zapper as it could attract foragers and drones. Also, wax moths typically navigate thru pheromones rather than be attracted to lights. If an adult female moth smells old brood comb nearby, the scent of the hive will almost always override the attraction of a UV light bulb.
I hope this helps, and please let me know if you have other questions.
Best,
Jason
Until next time
If you haven't done your winter setup yet, now's the window. Close down the entrances, check your screen bottom board is clear, get a feel for the hive's weight before the bees start drawing on their stores, and leave them enough.
Next month's live is a special one; we're teaming up with our friends at Hives for Heroes for a Veterans Day session, with the veterans in the program sharing how they got started and how you can get involved or support it. Details to come!
Until then, happy beekeeping.
The Primal Bee Team 🐝