Temperature above the hive falls by at least 2C if the Bee Cosy is removed.

This is the first time I have over-wintered a double brood box and with temperatures dropping last night to 1C and not planned to rise above 5C most of the day, I thought today would be a good chance to see the impact of taking off a Bee Cosy.

In this test, I have a temperature sensor on the top of the hive roof in the centre, one measuring outside temperature and two sensors in the hive - one on the crown above the cluster and another in the corner of the crown board. The hive has an open mesh floor with the varroa tray fitted.

A double brood with a brood and a half Bee Cosy.

Between 1:30pm and 2:30pm with only a brood and a half Bee Cosy fitted the outside temperature was around 3C and the air captured in the Bee Cosy consistently 2.5C warmer than the outside temperature.

The weather for the test was still, cold and foggy although the sun did try and burst through at 2:30pm as I removed the Bee Cosy.

View to the east from the apiary.

The graph below shows the benefit of the warmer air around the hive from the Bee Cosy quickly disappearing when the Bee Cosy was removed at 2:30pm. The crown board temperature remains relatively stable as the colony adjusts to the changing conditions - interestingly the sensor above the cluster showed a short increase of 0.5C to around 7.5C as the colony quickly began to use more energy to cope with the fall in temperature before re-adjusting.

This test took place in still still conditions without rain and without a double brood Bee Cosy in place. I plan to carry out further temperature tests each week in different weather conditions to test how the Bee Cosy responds to different hive arrangements and weather conditions.

Would you like to move your hives South for Winter?

In 2011 in the UK, according to figures collected by the BBKA, 17 per cent of colonies were lost over winter. But there were major variations across the country. Looking at average results for the last 5 years, beekeepers in the North have averaged losses of 24% with their southern counterparts consistently under 20%.

We don’t know what the winter of 2012-13 will bring but what if all beekeepers could effectively move their hives 300 miles south for winter?

According to figures published by the Met Office on average winter temperatures, this would have the effect of raising average winter temperatures by around 2C. This increase in hive temperature would mean less winter stores consumed, more chance of accessing winter stores in periods of sustained cold weather and an overall improvement in the chance of survival. Colonies that did survive would also start the year with more stores.

Our tests show that fitting the Bee Cosy can raise the internal hive temperature by 2 to 3C (3 to 5F) - so move your hives south for winter and fit a Bee Cosy.

The Bee Cosy and BeeCosy.com is launched!

After many months of research and testing, the world's first breathable hive cover - the Bee Cosy has been launched!

To provide information to beekeepers on the impact of winter conditions on their colonies and the merits of using the Bee Cosy as insulation for the whole hive BeeCosy.com has also been launched along with a facebook page and twitter feed.

Take a look around the site and let us know what you think.

Expect more updates in the next couple of weeks!