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Biologically bees know how to maintain the brood nest temperature.
The central brood area of a good sized colony during warm weather
will vary from 33°C(91.4°F) to 36°C(97°F) degrees, no matter what
the outsize temperature may be. If hive temperature rises above this
level, it may cause the bee brood to overheat and die. Therefore bees
have to use energy and water to prevent nest temperature from
rising. Also beewax combs become very soft and fragile at
high temperatures. If combs collapse
they make a mess and you may lose the queen, the honey or the
whole colony. So, is the sun in warm/hot climates a disadvantage to beekeepers? Usually, the answer is "Yes". But now, thanks to modern technologies, beekeepers could dramatically change the situation by using free electricity generated from sunlight for artificial hive ventilation and thus, turn the sun into a bee ally. Additional hive ventilation will allow the bees to spend less time and energy to maintain hive temperature and therefore increase hive’s productivity. Effective hive ventilation also decreases the quantity of Varroa mites. |
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This season I will test a new modern approach in hive ventilation. For this purpose I installed Bee Cool Ventilator for my new hive with ARC Russian bees. Bee Cool, a solar powered ventilator, is inserted under standard top cover. And the built-in thermostat turns on a fan powered by Solar panel or AC. The fan draws the air up through hive and out the top of ventilator through the built in vents. |
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Bee cool ventilator contains: - Main Ventilation Body; - Bee Cool Solar Panel; - Bee Cool Ventilator AC; - Bee Cool Ventilator Thermostat Weighs less then 10 lbs and takes less than 10 minutes to set up. Fits under top cover. (Remove and discard inner cover) I recommend applying a coat of paint to the outside of the main ventilation body before installation. |
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Bee Cool ventilator painted green and installed in my new bee hive
in the picture on the left.
Please note that the solar panel acts as a small "sail".
To avoid damage caused by tipped solar panel and hive cover,
place a heavy stone or brick on top of the hive as an anchor.
I think it should be an additional possibility (design) to connect more hives (fans) to the same solar panel. |
Price Information and More Details are here
Links to related info:
Test ResultsHive Temperatures for Each Hour of a Day
More about hive ventilation
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