How to Build a Quilt Box for a Beehive
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- Опубліковано 27 лис 2024
- Join me this week and learn how to build a quilt box for your beehive! Control moisture, eliminate mould, and reduce the chances of disease for your bees with this simple idea! Also watch me catch a swarm of bees and create a new hive! Lots of action this week with Sustainable Stace!
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How do you feed bees after placing quilt.
That's a great question Arshad.
The quilt box easily lifts and lowers into place on top of the lower boxes in the tower. I typically use a feeder that fits in between the frames in the top box which is housing the bees and I can quickly access / refill the feeder as needed by simply lifting off the quilt box that's above.
You don’t use a inner cover with moisture box?
That's correct. I find they restrict airflow/ventilation and have always had negative effect on my hives.
Cool. Thanks
do you winter feed and how?
While it's warm enough for them to be moving within the hive - in both the fall and spring - I ensure they have a pollen patty inside the hive.
Additionally, this fall I've been offering sugar water and they're making plenty of honey from that. Even though it's freezing at night, they are being productive when it warms up in the hive during the day to convert that.
I hope that helps :)
@@SustainableStace How do you feed them though with a quilt box on?
@@CWsooner I'm lifting off the quilt box when the days are warm to refill the sugar water solution in the feeders which are inside the hive.
Do you keep your quilt box on year round?
Yes. We live in fairly humid environment near the pacific ocean. I find it provides moisture control year round and keeps things warmer in the winter as well.
@@staceytoews6459 Do you change materials depending on season then? I was reading about using mixtures of wood shavings etc depending on different environments;
I also wanted to ask how long the burlap lasts and if at some point it begins to sag?
Do you think using a mesh wire at 1/8 or 1/16th with a cotton or burlap placed on top would be a better solution?
@@brandonschooner8298 great questions.
1) I replace shavings if they have increased in humidity - that depends on rainfall/seasons. After experimenting I determined to keep the quilt box on year round as it always seemed to improve conditions!
2) the burlap will vary on thickness/resilience. I use very strong sacks which have not sagged after years of use.
3) experimented beyond that
withyour
Nice to clarify I too plan on having it on year round but was wanting to ask if you change the type* of material depending on season or even the ratio of shavings to sawdust etc
And nice - I have some wire mesh on had so I’ll give that a shot thanks for the response :)
Could I use cedar chips instead of saw dust?
You want small & dry particles to absorb the moisture in the hive.
So, if the cedar chips are large they will likely not have enough surface area to absorb moisture.
Also, cedar has a lot of natural oils/preservatives which often have negative effect on animals i.e. you cannot use cedar shavings as bedding for animals.
So, though I'm not certain, I would advise against using cedar in a bee hive.
Okay, thank you for your response!