Preparing Beehives for Vermont Winter

source: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Vermontbees/
Dave Cain & Nancy Turner
Waitsfield, VT

"We live in central Vermont and winters are long and cold here. The first year or two we kept bees we put an extra shallow on top of the inner cover with a screen stapled to the bottom and filled with dry wood shaving as a moisture absorber. That seemed to work fine, but then we heard about the method shown here."

Series of photos – Two Slide Shows
1. Insulating top of hive with rigid foam board... "routed channel provides a flue, or passageway, for moisture and air to vent while the insulation helps to hold in warmth."
http://web.me.com/decthree/Wrapping_bees/Insulating.html
2. Wrapping hive with tar paper... "not much too it. I use a stapler to fix the paper to the wood. It holds well through the winter and comes off easily in the spring."
http://web.me.com/decthree/Wrapping_bees/Wrapping.html