Surviving Winter: Underfloor Heating in Beehives

The Challenge

Judy is a beekeeper in Wisconsin. While the temperatures remain ideal in the spring and summer, she realized that she was struggling to keep her beehives warm during the harsh winter months. She tried various heating solutions to keep them warm and well insulated in their beehive, yet her bees kept dying as a result of the extremely cold temperatures. With no sufficient way to successfully protect her bees, Judy kept losing a significant amount of her bee population every year. Open to thinking outside of the box, she was looking for any type of solution that would help keep her bees warm and healthy without having to rely on expensive and energy-consuming heating systems.

The Solution

After conducting research on different heating options for beehives, Judy spoke with her brother, who suggested installing underfloor heating in her beehives. Known for high-quality and energy-efficient heating solutions, Judy got in contact with a specialist from Warmup's Customer Experience Team. Judy explained her unique project circumstances and heating needs, and together, they were able to successfully design a custom heating system that would fit the specific needs of her beehives. They determined that the best way to proceed would involve installing loose DCM-PRO Heating Cables by placing them beneath the hive boxes and connecting the cable system to a 6iE Smart WiFi Thermostat to achieve optimized and tailored temperature control.

The loose DCM-PRO Heating Cables were chosen due to their durability and flexibility, making them easy to install for irregularly-shaped spaces. Fixing Strips were used to space the cables and keep them in place during installation, making maneuverability seamless. Flexibility in design also meant that Judy could space and lay out the heating cables in the way that best suited the heating needs of the beehive, ensuring that heat output and heat spread would be maximized. The heating cables were used to keep the beehives at a consistent temperature of around 35 to 40 degrees Fahrenheit, which is the optimal temperature range to maintain honeybee hives.

Judy paired the heating cables with the 6iE Smart Wifi Thermostat because it offered advanced technological heating control capabilities. The thermostat helps optimize energy use and heating costs by communicating with the heating system in order to achieve programs input by the user. In this case, it was programmed to turn on and off automatically based on the temperature readings inside the hive (captured by the floor probe sensor installed). The thermostat's WiFi capabilities for remote monitoring allowed Judy to keep track of the beehive's temperature from the MyHeating App or the online web portal from wherever she was.

The Result

After installing the underfloor heating system in her beehives, Judy noticed a significant improvement in the health and vitality of her bee population. After just one winter season, she found that her bees were able to survive without any issues. Her ability to personalize heating preferences within the 6iE Thermostat in conjunction with efficient heat output and heat spread from the heating cables ensured that Judy's energy use and heating costs remained within budget for the winter. She was so pleased with her heating system's performance and beehive protection that she told fellow beekeepers about her winter success. Judy found out, however, that her bees were the only ones in the area to survive the winter, which drew the attention of other beekeepers in the region.

Overall, the underfloor heating system proved to be a cost-effective and energy-efficient solution for keeping bees warm during the winter months. Judy was able to save her bees from the harsh winter conditions, and her success story helped inspire other beekeepers in the region to adopt more sustainable heating options for their hives.