The idea of keeping the wind off the hive surface and giving some insulation is appealing but the cost of BeeCosy is not insignificant.
On the other hand, something homemade could save the Beekeeper a lot of cash.
Here's my version. This is made of 50mm (2”) urethane foil-covered insulation. The joints are formed with some construction adhesive that I already had and wooden dowels. It is wrapped in 50mm duct tape and has an aluminium roof to shed rain.
The total cost was £5.50 – the insulation was rescued from a skip, Aldi sold the tape for £2.50 and the roof material came from a caravan in a scrap yard for £3.
I made it last week and intend to remove the existing roof from my 14x12 hive and slide this over the whole hive, once all the Autumn manipulations are finished. The outside dimension of my hive is 640mm and the i.d. of the Cosy is 650mm, so there's a theoretical 5mm air gap around the hive. The only place not insulated is, of course, the under floor entrance.
Nearly up to DerekM's high standards! I'm quite pleased with it.
CVB
