Solar energy for “bee tiled stoves”
What means a warm room with a tiled stove for humans could also be an advantage for bees, especially since they have to heat with their own muscle power. The bees have a lot to do to maintain the necessary temperatures in winter and even more dramatically in spring when the weather is capricious – even in early summer. This always costs a lot of vitality and honey as heating material. Better thermal insulation would be beneficial both for the bees and for honey production.
Within the framework of a research project at the Zoological Institute of the University of Innsbruck, possibilities for improving the insulation values of hives are being developed and tested.
In the process, hives with passive insulation are adequately wrapped and also equipped with special active insulation, especially in the lid area. This is a well-insulated core storage, which largely obstructs a heat flow over the lid to the top and even blocks it completely above ground.
The ericsity Energy photovoltaic module used converts solar energy in such a way that a core storage with latent effect is heated up to 55°C, and subsequently insulates the ceiling level highly effectively. This results in a total blockage of the heat dissipation of the valuable stock heat in the hive lid area towards the top. In addition, local heat input can also be achieved in phases. This relieves the bees, which have to heat themselves, and promotes their health.
With an improvement of the room climate and the accompanying strengthening of the defenses of the bees, in particular a decimation of the Varroa load could be achieved.
The use and the effects of the active insulation elements will continue to be tested within the framework of the research project at various apiaries in Tyrol. The light (only 3.3 kg/m2) and flexible photovoltaic modules from ericsity Energy will be used.
Did you know? In the field of agri-photovoltaics, ericsity Energy offers lightweight and translucent photovoltaic modules for agricultural purposes such as greenhouses.
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