Funny how every beekeeper has their own ideas of how things should be. No harm in putting an additional mat up on top of your super, this will help prevent the bees from building comb on the roof and also stop mould growth on the top of your frames over winter. I get a bit of condensation up there and the tops of the frames start to turn a dark colour. The mat fixed this.
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Do you think hive mats are required with the Flow type hive? I only ask because the standard type hives I have seen here in South Australia have those lids with a few inches of space in them ( are they called migratory lids?) whereas the flow hive has the inner cover which only gives the bees about 1/4 inch of space above the frames. I can understand why a hive mat is useful with the migratory lids to stop comb in the roof, etc. but that doesn’t seem to be much an issue with the Flow type hive?
The other use of the hive mat is to stop condensation on the lid and keep the warmth in the cluster- and this would seem to be good for a flow type hive also- but it comes at the expense of the bees not being able to move over the tops of the frames. Is that actually an expense? It seems to me it must be nice for the bees to be able to walk up and over a comb- but I guess in a natural setting they cannot do that anyway…
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I don’t think you need it on top of the Flow frames but I do it as I use a migratory lid on my Flow hive and there is considerable space up there. As for the flow of bees across the top of the frames, I like your thinking. I have used mats fora little while now and have not noticed any difference in their behaviour or condition of the hive, they seem to know where to go to get up to the honey stores. Another option would be to lay the mat across the top of the queen excluder, this would allow the bees to walk across the tops of the frames.
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Another option for the placement of the hive may could be too place it above the Flow feeder board, which will give the bees a chance to walk above the frames, and it should prevent them from entering and building combined the Flow roof. The layer of air beneath the feeder board may help with warmth, as it is the air space between layers of insulation which help retain warmth.
Many thanks for everyone’s comments and ideas.
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Yes I’m reviving this topic to show what I’ve been talking about when I say the bees prefer to build up, rather than out. I neglected to put a hive mat over this nuc that’s making a new queen. The bees went up before they built on that side of exposed foundation.
cheers
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