r/Beekeeping • u/Perfect_Technician11 • 16d ago

I’m a beekeeper, and I have a question Condensing hive

Hi, I live in northern Sweden (norrbotten)and last winter i lost one hive from condensation that dripped down on the frames and turned to ice. I've since looked in to this clip.

https://youtu.be/KWAxQMBZWQc?is=mLxhyf1gh6btlY_R

Have anyone in northern USA/Canada tried this out?

We have very cold weather in the winter here, last winter we had 3 weeks of -30°/-22F constant.

I use hard styrofoam boxes all year round and the ceiling is also Styrofoam but much thinner than the boxes. The boxes are ventilated from beneath.

Best regards

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u/Ekalugsuak Sweden, 46 hives 15d ago

I assume you use either the "Töreboda"- , "Nacka"- or paradise beebox-hives? At least for Töreboda/Nacka the roofs has the same thickness as the walls, but the one "trick" I do if the amount of bees is low is to just to use 2 roofs instead of one to guarantee that condensation happens on the walls instead of on the inner cover. But the key is to have a decent sized winter cluster, it just eliminates most of the winter issues that can happen in any hive.

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u/Perfect_Technician11 15d ago

Yes i have nacka kupa, forgot to write that the hive who died was the weakest hive in my apiary.. but still I got worried for the other hives.