Maintaining favorable temperature and humidity in beehives as affected by wintering practices
نویسندگان
1 Department of Plant Protection, College of Agriculture, University of Kerbala, Iraq
2 Department of Plant Protection, College of Agriculture, University of Kerbala, Iraq
3 Department of Plant Protection, College of Agriculture, University of Kerbala, Iraq
4 Department of Plant Protection, College of Agriculture, University of Kerbala, Iraq
5 Department of Plant Protection, College of Agriculture, University of Kerbala, Iraq
doi
10.48311/fsct.2026.117668.82931چکیده
The study experiments aimed to determine the effect of the spatial position of the bee cluster within the hive, the type of cover and the type of food provided during wintering on the optimal temperatures for bee overwintering. It was always observed that the temperatures inside the hive were close (36.47-32.13°C) compared to those recorded outside the hive (33.80-16.43°C). Similarly, relative humidity (RH) inside the hive was maintained within a range of 46.67% to 53.67%, compared to the external RH of 25.33% to 89.33%. Regarding the effect of the bee location inside the hive, it was found that the center of the bee ball maintained a temperature of 26 to 38°C, while the side of the ball recorded 7 to 33°C, followed by the edge of the hive 17 to 31°C with relative humidity levels of 37% to 52%, 23% to 50%, and 33% to 54%, respectively." (The unit °C for humidity is a critical error). Transparent polyethylene for covering the hive was the best in maintaining hive inside temperature followed by coverage with dark blue sheet compared to lower warming effect by the traditional plant remain cover and the uncovered control, while the lowest RH was recorded in the hive covered with plant material. The presence of honey in the bee food recorded less temperatures variation extent (14.60-33.57°C) with a higher RH (39.33-61%) compared to the hive containing protein paste of 12- 34°C and RH of 32.67-47.33%), while the control hive had a temperature
