# Over-winter: ideas for moisture wicking: ceiling tile or wood shavings



## srf_onezero (Jun 26, 2011)

I am a first year beekeeper in the upper peninsula of MI--winter is from Nov-Apr.
Got my hive to fill out 2 deeps (brood and honey).
I have heard sufficient wisdom that moisture management is key to haveing a colony survive winter.
I plan on wrapping my hive bodies with 1/2 foam and tar paper. 

I heard indirectly from local beekeepers that some put in a drop-ceiling tile above the hive bodies.
Others put an empty shallow super on filled with cedar wood shavings (coarse--not sawdust). 
These sound logical to help wick moisture.

I never could find the person on the ceiling tile approach as to whether is was above or below the inner cover.
Does anyone have any suggestions on this?

I suspect the moisture must condensate on the inner cover, therefore it would seem logical to put the ceiling tile under the inner cover.

Thanks,
Shawn


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## Michael Bush (Aug 2, 2002)

You do get less condensate on a rough surface than a smooth one, but the volume of H20 produced is far more than a ceiling tile can absorb. Better to let the moisture out the top...


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## Michael Palmer (Dec 29, 2006)

In Maine, many beekeepers use homosote. I think it's pretty close to your ceiling tile. They leave the inner cover escape hole open and add the homosote above the inner cover. The homosote has a dado cut in the middle from the front edge to the middle above the escape hole. This vents some of the moisture to the outside and the homosote absorbs the rest.

I like to close the escape hole with duct tape, place 2" foam above inner cover, and allow water vapor to vent to the outside through the inner cover upper entrance and not be absorbed by anything.


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## coopermaple (Aug 30, 2009)

We use sound board which is similar to Homesote but absorbs more moisture and is a bit less dense. We do use the dado cut as Mike Palmer describes as well. Some people put a layer of foam insulation above the sound board or Homesote.


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## kevinva (Apr 21, 2008)

I use Bild-Rite. You can buy it at Home-Depot, Lowes, Menards. I have about 20 hives so it's cheaper buying the 4 x 8 sheets and cutting them for all my hives. Many of the Bee Keepers in my area use this.


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## SwedeBee1970 (Oct 26, 2008)

Try the Mountain Camp style sugar feeding. The sugar will absorb the extra moisture to form a candy like formation.


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## Katharina (May 2, 2011)

Notch your innercover so it has a 3/4 inch opening for the moisture to escape. Then also put a wooden shim under the back side of your hive so it is slight tilted forward for water to run off. Insulate your hive cover with something like Reflectix so the most air will not condensate on the cold cover. The bees cannot chew it up like styrofoam either and you can reuse it year after year. Reflectix is also great for wrapping your hive. It has an R3.7 value.


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## Paul McCarty (Mar 30, 2011)

I built a wooden quilt box filled with red cedar chips on mine. Right under the outer cover.


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## Lost Bee (Oct 9, 2011)

I was wondering if an extra empty honey supper could be simply added before winter and 
filled with with a cage filled with cotton. Leaving some room for the bees to visit the top 
entrance if need be of course. It would be like creating more dead air space like an extra 
attic for the bee hive. This could be used to absorb moisture or even a feeder. Cotton 
is non-toxic and very moisture absorbing. I'm hoping this would act like the way home 
insulation works for homes. It would have to be placed probably in some type of cage,
etc, so the bees can't propolize it or worse take it down in the hive. 

I'm sure some type of excess moisture idea would work. As long as it ain't toxic 
to the bees and they can't mess up their hive with it. It also would be very nice 
to have a moisture absorbing layer in the bottom of the hive too with the same 
features. I wonder if anyone put such a *Diaper* in a bee hive before.

I live in Canada and I am worried about Old Man Winter 
and I don't even have a honey bee to my name yet.

I bet the bees wish we could give them slab heating.


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## Barry (Dec 28, 1999)

Lost Bee said:


> I was wondering if cotton could be used to absorb moisture. Cotton is non-toxic and
> very moisture absorbing. Like a placing some inside the top cover would act like the
> way home insulation works for homes.


Once cotton gets wet, its usefulness is over. Home insulation has nothing to do with absorbing moisture. When it does absorb moisture, that is when mildew and rot begin. Home insulation is always installed with a vapor _barrier_.



> I bet the bees wish we could give them slab heating.


I bet the bees wish we would just let them be bees and not our pets.


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## Lost Bee (Oct 9, 2011)

Barry said:


> I bet the bees wish we would just let them be bees and not our pets.


So does that mean that we should let the bees requeen themselves, not feed them, etc?

I'm just concerned about the bees that's all. I have built residential homes in the winter 
and know how cold things get that's all. I have seen my share of vapor barriers too.


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## Barry (Dec 28, 1999)

I think everyone has the freedom to manage their bees to the degree they see fit. If that means heated floors, go for it! 

How you feel the cold and how bees feel the cold are not the same. Bees don't put on coats and heat their homes when it gets cold. They have another method to deal with it called clustering. Do you think they need help in doing this adequately?


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## souficoufi (Dec 10, 2016)

Laisser l'humidité s'écouler vers l'extérieur.


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