March 24, 2023

High Temperature And High Humidity cause Bees big problems.

High humidity causes many problems in bee hives and makes others worse. We feed bees, take steps to protect against diseases, mites, beatles, worms and sometimes bears. High humidity can lead to problems with mold and mildew too. Aslo, evaporative cooling doesn't work when the hive humidity is over 80%. Bee hives exhaust fans have been around for years and many people report increased yeilds and healthier hives.

The inside hive temperature and humidity sensor have on and off adjustable setting. Also, there is a separate outside air thermostat which you can set the minimum outside air temperature for the fan to come on. This protects the hive from cold air coming in and adversity affecting the brood.

You can look at the readings and see if you might have a problem that warrants taking a look inside.

Solar panels

Our standard temperature and humidity unit comes with a 25 watt 18 volt flexible solar panel. We chose this one because being flexible it isn't easily damaged as some of the others are. In order to charge a 12 volt battery you need to have an 18 volt solar panel. This panel is a monocrystalline very good quality panel, similar panels sell for $50.00 on the internet. We have several other versions and types of solar panels, but this one is the best.

Solar controller

We include a solar controller that regulates the voltage to the thermostats and fan. It is a three stage charger that will protect the battery from overcharging and over discharging. It regulates the voltage from the 18 volt solar panel to protect all the components from the widely variable energy the sun provides.

Waterproof & dustproof fan

Our top quality fans are IP68, which is waterproof and dustproof. They will, in fact, even work underwater. They are also brushless and have duel ball bearings for vibration free operation. They will also operate at a range of voltages from 9 to 20 volts. They are rated for 100,000 hours of continuous use. Since the actual average yearly running time is estimatrd at just 2,500 hours these fans should last more than 20 years. We tested many fans before we chose these. Most began to wobble or vibrate in a few months. These are the best fans we could find.

Quickly be alerted to abnormal temperature or humidity readings.

When walking by, you will be able to notice a hive that has a temperature or humidity reading that is out of sync with the other hives in a group and identify a hive that must be inspected.

There are 3 LED displays.

-The green LED is for the outside air temperature. This thermostat regulates when the fan will come on. Its initially set for 87 ⁰F (30.5 ⁰C) to ensure the fan won't come on if it's colder than that. You can change it and set it to whatever you want.

-The red LED is the inside hive temperature. Initially set to 93 ⁰F (33.9 ⁰C) If the outside temperature is warm enough, (green LED) the fan will come on and automatically shut off when the inside hive temperature falls below your settings. Again you can set it to whatever you want.

-The blue LED is for humidity. Its initially set at 60%. Which is the high end of the desirable hive humidity range. Bees use evaporative cooling to cool the hive. At 80% humidity evaporative cooling no longer works and bees have to use other methods to cool the hive, like bearding. These other methods involve the bees be taken from foraging to cooling.

When outside air temperatures are below 87 degrees the bees can effectively cool the hive without assistance.