Quote Originally Posted by voytech104 View Post
... [in Poland] most of types of beehives have twin walls with insulation between. Also Gavin said that commercial beekeeper from his area keeps his bees in styrofoam Langstroth`s and they have better survival rate. Having two harsh winters ( Polish style ), dont You think that a little rethink regarding national beehives would be required to ensure better survival and strenght?
I have a couple of WBC twin-walled hives (only one currently in use), and whilst I would agree that the twin wall is in very cold conditions better for insulation and (less sure about this) wind-chill (because the inner box is kept dry), the problem I've found is that working with the two sets of lifts is extremely awkward, and in windy conditions (and that's a lot of the time here) greatly extends the time you're actually working with the bees, and in which the inner hive is exposed. I don't add insulation between the walls: because of the wind and rain together, straw would draw moisture by capilliar action to the inner walls, and synthetic insulation would reduce breathability (which will kill the bees). In fact the only reason I use the WBC at all is because it is in a very sheltered position close to the back window of the garden shop, and being classic beehive shape is a good advert. But other hives are Nationals, and as I expand (hopefully) it will definitely be all Nationals. I understand that compared to say Carniolans, Amm colonies are quite small and relatively slow to expand and you don't want lots of empty space around them - in summer they'll fill it with crazy comb, and in winter it will result in them chilling. For the same reason I learnt from Andrew Abrahams always to add empty frame slowly, only when they've just drawn out both sides of the outermost frame, and have largely filled the inner faces of those, and only when the chamber is full remove the dummy boards. Keep it cosy but comfy!