25mm insulation board

[Newbeeneil]

PH, I've just found a supplier of 20mm foam like yours so I though I would have a go at making a brood box out of it. What adhesive do you use?

 

[Poly Hive]

Mine is 25m.

I use standard external wood glue and currently dowels. I am looking at using ply in the joints as an extended "biscuit".

What style of brood are you considering?

PH

 

[derekm]

Dow Floormate has about the same thermal conductivity as EPS polystyrene(0.035 W/mK) so it doesnt perform as well as the Kingspan/Celltex/Recticel (0.23 W/mK), but as i ve found the trick is finding the correct mix of contruction technique, thermal and mechanical performance. For me I would go to 50mm to get the thermal performance.

 

[Newbeeneil]

. For me I would go to 50mm to get the thermal performance.

Thanks Derek, but I'm a cedar man who just enjoys the challenge of seeing if it's possible to construct a national from a different material as close as possible. If I use anything thicker than 20mm the box would not match the rest of my kit.
I'm sure the PIR at 20mm with be more thermally efficient than 18mm cedar

 

[Newbeeneil]

Mine is 25m.

I use standard external wood glue and currently dowels. I am looking at using ply in the joints as an extended "biscuit".

What style of brood are you considering?

PH

Standard external glue? Is that acrylic or PU? I use Soudal Pro45P when constructing timber hives, its cheap and effective.

I'm trying to make a National brood box as close to standard dimensions as possible.

 

[Poly Hive]

I've used this for donkeys years now.

PH

 

[Courty]

Hi PH,
I’m looking forward to your update in August. I’ve been looking into nuc options along Michael Palmer’s model with half brood box size that would fit over a split brood box.
To make these half size boxes I wondered if I cut an Abelo brood box in half, I could insert a foam wall inside the cut off point to complete the fourth wall. Using dowels and glue it seems possible. However, I’m not sure if the top and bottom edges of the foam would live up to the rigours of propolis, hive tools and being prised apart.
You mentioned a wooden strip as a biscuit, maybe a wood strip would be needed.
Does this sound do-able?
Thanks,
Courty

 

[Poly Hive]

I am leaning that way too (plywood biscuit) as I am finding the drill bit over reams holes for dowell but I can get a very neat and precise cut with either the table saw or the router.

PH

 

[Courty]

Thanks for the reply.
Are foam edges sturdy enough or do they need wood edging?
Abelo poly hives have plastic edges on the rims of their brood and super boxes.

Courty

 

[DaveG23]

Bumping this thread, any update on new home made poly nucs? Was interested to see how they went, @Poly Hive how did this project go? Any pics?

 

[Poly Hive]

Not even got it off the ground yet due to higher priority projects. I'm hoping to get to it this Winter if my hand op goes well. I'm avoiding vibration as much as possible at the moment.

PH

 

[madasafish]

Bumping this thread, any update on new home made poly nucs? Was interested to see how they went, @Poly Hive how did this project go? Any pics?

Mine have been in continual use since 2016
Odd repairs, but at original cost of £10 per nuc, nothing to worry about.
(50mm walls, floors and roof = cosy)

 

[DaveG23]

Not even got it off the ground yet due to higher priority projects. I'm hoping to get to it this Winter if my hand op goes well. I'm avoiding vibration as much as possible at the moment.

PH

Good luck with the Op, hope its a success.

 

[DaveG23]

Mine have been in continual use since 2016
Odd repairs, but at original cost of £10 per nuc, nothing to worry about.
(50mm walls, floors and roof = cosy)

Yours are PIR/celotex?

I am likely to have some spare 25mm EPS soon. Granted not as good thermally as PIR or maybe not as robust as XPS, but I might knock up a nuc to see what it's like. Haven't seen the sheets yet so no idea if they will be strong enough to do this.

 

[madasafish]

Yours are PIR/celotex?

I am likely to have some spare 25mm EPS soon. Granted not as good thermally as PIR or maybe not as robust as XPS, but I might knock up a nuc to see what it's like. Haven't seen the sheets yet so no idea if they will be strong enough to do this.

Celotex, Kingspan, whatever foiled boards I can acquire (cheaply) .I made some roofs from 35mm cold store insulation which has a tough dippled exterior and wears well. (it was CHEAP)

 

[understanding_bees]

For many years I used a Du Pont product but seemingly due to building regs now they no longer sell the 25mm thick size.

Might anyone know of a reasonably dense 25mm board on the market as my searches are not coming up with anything useful and I want to make a number of nucs over the winter.

PH

You ask about the availability of 25mm thick insulation boards. You have mentioned that you could obtain thicker material, but that your preference is for 25mm material.
I was able to obtain 100mm polystyrene material from a house construction project, but also wanted thinner material. I have designed and built a polystyrene cutting "machine" which uses a hot wire to cut the polystyrene material to any thickness I may need for a particular project. My machine is completely adjustable, and able to cut any required thickness from a thick slab, with millimetre accuracy.

 

[Poly Hive]

I managed to find the material I wanted in the end.

PH

 

[Jules59]

Some useful links in this thread - thanks.
Are these "Stryofoam" type products recyclable or do they all ultimately end up in landfill, or clogging our oceans ?
I've always assumed the commercially available polyhives are not recyclable and for that reason stayed clear of them. Correct me if I'm wrong.

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

I've always assumed the commercially available polyhives are not recyclable and for that reason stayed clear of them.

But you are still thinking with the mindset of the throwaway society.
Why recycle when the item doesn't need replacing/disposing of in the first place? There's a good chance that these polyhives will outlast us all - people are still using polyhives purchased in the late 60s/early 70s

 

[Wilco]

Some useful links in this thread - thanks.
Are these "Stryofoam" type products recyclable or do they all ultimately end up in landfill, or clogging our oceans ?
I've always assumed the commercially available polyhives are not recyclable and for that reason stayed clear of them. Correct me if I'm wrong.

Not sure about the poky hives but all the insulation boards I've used to date have been rescued from skips thus at the very least I've delayed them going to landfill.