Since The Cathedral Hive® is a much larger volume hive you could wait until November to insulate the hive if your hive is over 1/2 full of combs, if the hive is not half full go ahead and insulate. Do watch for extreme fluctuations in temperatures. Winters can bring extreme drops, 70 degrees during the day and in the teens by night. This is extra tough on the bees so be ready to insulate.
Simple techniques that will make installing bees in your Cathedral Hive® a breeze.
Support the Cathedral Bars until the bees draw out comb on the bars One of the first things you will notice with your new Cathedral Hive® is when you line up the hexagonal top bars across the hive on the support ledge, they are delicately balanced. This will soon change after the bees begin to draw out comb and 'glue' everything together with propolis making the bars sit firmly in place.
