Mike Barkley wrote:A short quote from the book ...
Now let’s calculate how tall the comb should be to allow bees to winter successfully. A cluster is ten inches (25 cm) in diameter. The bees remain in the cluster for five to six months (the dearth period extends even longer). One millimeter of movement per day brings us to seven inches (18 cm) total. So the required comb depth is 18 inches (45 cm) including a one-inch (2-cm) margin. As we mentioned before, this is why bees prefer a hollow of at least 20 inches (50 cm) in depth.
Thanks Mike. That makes sense. Two questions. Why wouldn’t the bees move east or west to get access to more Honey frames in a horizontal hive? There are small cut outs in the corners of plasticell foundation so the bees can move that way too not just up or down.
Also I have plans to build an insulated hive using two deep frames zip tied together top and bottom. (With the protruding part of the lower frame cut off so it acts as a single large frame.). So that would give me the 18” the bees need to over winter and I can just cut the zip ties and voila, two 9” deeps that can go in my extractor during the honey harvest. Do you think that would work?
Thanks for your help!
David
