Bubble wrap for insulation??

[tobbias88]

My 3 plywood hives are on a very exposed site, catching a lot of wind & rain. They all have mesh floors which allows good circulation but also damp & cold.

I thought of wrapping the exteriors in bubble-wrap as extra insulation. Is that daft? Would it cause mildew/condensation? Last year 2 hives perished because of seeping damp.

 

[drstitson]

impervious outer wrapping will make damp worse.

you just need adequate top insulation.

 

[user 6228]

If you had enough layers of bubble wrap and it was well sealed and it came well down the sides it would work...

if it is very exposed site have you considered an open fronted shelter for the hives for winter ? that would keep the rain and the wind off the hives. (imagine a very small low bus shelter) . Water and wind are very good at removing heat from thin inhabitated boxes

top insulation on it own does something but not alot to thin wooden hive that is being soaked by horizontal rain in gales.

I will be doing some quantitve work on the "top insulation"

 

[Salamagundy]

My 3 plywood hives are on a very exposed site, catching a lot of wind & rain. They all have mesh floors which allows good circulation but also damp & cold.

I thought of wrapping the exteriors in bubble-wrap as extra insulation. Is that daft? Would it cause mildew/condensation? Last year 2 hives perished because of seeping damp.

Sorry to hear about the two hives you lost. Similar wet and windy conditions here. Last year was my first winter so my experience is very limited. I tucked them up with inch Kingspan in the recesses on two sides of the BB and then wrapped them up with some permeable roofing felt I had left over from a building project. They had two inches of Kingspan under the roof and an OMF.

It kept them dry but as far as I could see they didn't cluster at all during the winter.

A related issue (hope this isn't hijacking your thread): I don't know what effect the extra insulation had on their rate of consumption of stores. At the end of Jan I put fondant on all the hives as a precaution - they took it all and I think they may have been short of space for spring expansion as a result.
I'm unclear about how best to manage the balance of temperature:insulation:colony size:stores:expansion (or whether it's realistic to try - so many variables!) so have fed them as much syrup as they wanted and will probably put fondant on again as an insurance, my main objective being to give them the best chance of making it through the winter.

 

[Finman]

My 3 plywood hives are on a very exposed site, catching a lot of wind & rain. They all have mesh floors which allows good circulation but also damp & cold.

I thought of wrapping the exteriors in bubble-wrap as extra insulation. Is that daft? Would it cause mildew/condensation? Last year 2 hives perished because of seeping damp.

Plastic keeps the hive moist and the wood will rotten. You get mini green house

Why don't you bye polyboxes and put frames there.
.
Lost of wind...not at least mesh floor then. Good air circulation means high food consumption.

"dry" demands in my country that the interrior air is higher. So relative moisture will be lower than outdoors.
If we here dry up something, we rise up heat

Dampnes makes nosema. For example hives do better here when they are not under snow in calm dampness. But wind which blow directly into the hive, makes much troubles.

.

 

[Finman]

If you had enough layers of bubble wrap and it was well sealed and it came well down the sides it would work...

"

I bet big troubles

 

[itma]

My 3 plywood hives are on a very exposed site, catching a lot of wind & rain. They all have mesh floors which allows good circulation but also damp & cold.

I thought of wrapping the exteriors in bubble-wrap as extra insulation. Is that daft? Would it cause mildew/condensation? Last year 2 hives perished because of seeping damp.

Rather than using bubblewrap, you might try Tyvek roofing membrane.

Waterproof but vapour permeable (breathable). Its Goretex for houses.
UV shortens its life, as does flexing - but hey, you aren't expecting it to last decades! .
I've used offcuts as woodpecker defence (rather than sheets of plastic). No problem, just got to find some more ...

 

[user 6228]

I bet big troubles

Sealed plastic bubbles is not that different from polystyrene, but not as efficient or convienent as polystryrene. It would also need a rather large amount of gaffer tape to ensure it was sealed properely and to be thicker than the polystyrene.

 

[Finman]

Sealed plastic bubbles is not that different from polystyrene, but not as efficient or convienent as polystryrene. It would also need a rather large amount of gaffer tape to ensure it was sealed properely and to be thicker than the polystyrene.

I have enough experience about that.

Furthermore moist ply acts as plastic. It does not respirate. Ply sucks 30% of its weight water. Wall is cold surface and takes in the condensation water.

I got a lesson 45 years ago when I wrapped hives with plastic sheet. All were dead after winter.

There are plenty of good alternatives to protect hives for winter.

"Sealed plastic bubbles is not that different from polystyrene" = Goooood heavens!!! I have not met that bubble sheet has been used in house insulation. It is wrapping material, not for insulation.


.

 

[itma]

...
"Sealed plastic bubbles is not that different from polystyrene" = Goooood heavens!!! I have not met that bubble sheet has been used in house insulation. It is wrapping material, not for insulation.

Not for insulating houses, but greenhouses, oh yes!
http://www.gardenersworld.com/how-to/projects/greenhouse/how-to-insulate-a-greenhouse/126.html

I don't think it would be a good idea outside a ply hive.
Stuffing a super with bubblewrap would give some top insulation - if the roof is OK.
Externally, Tyvek could be quite helpful for weatherproofing, rather than *insulation*.
IMHO, if the problem is damp getting through, then its weatherproofing rather than insulation that's needed.

Particularly on an exposed site, poly should perform much better than ply! On a wet exposed site, the painting of the ply (and choice of paint) is going to be very important.

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

but can you resist the temptation to pop a few bubbles each time you walk past?

 

[Finman]

Not for insulating houses, but greenhouses, oh yes!
http://www.gardenersworld.com/how-to/projects/greenhouse/how-to-insulate-a-greenhouse/126.html
.

I have nursed small greenhouses 50 years. I know the problems of moisture and condensation in greenhouses.

What we have when we have hive inside the plastic sheet? - Moisture comes out from the plyhive. Sun perhaps helps in it. The surface is cold and moisture forms a continuous droplet wall in system. Inside it has 100% moisture all the time.

Bubble sheet does not insulate because it is so thin. So more layers and more pockets where condensation water will be stored.


Nowadays were had splended construction materials and we may do many kind of protections. They stay on hive about half year.

If you think that snow protects in Finland hives, so it happens only 3 months a year. On western coast snow cover is often 10-30 cm and it is wet snow often like in my place near south coast (10 miles to sea).

We need insulation 9 months in a year.
.

.

 

[Swarm]

Rather than insulation, what you need is something to provide shelter from inclement conditions, a hedge or fence would help.

 

[Finman]

Rather than insulation, what you need is something to provide shelter from inclement conditions, a hedge or fence would help.

That is the most important.

 

[Dishmop]

Sitting them on a paving stone which some kingspan or similar under it will keep the cold and damp from rising..

 

[user 6228]

Sitting them on a paving stone which some kingspan or similar under it will keep the cold and damp from rising..

 

[REDWOOD]

I always put a bit of bubble wrap under my jacket to keep me warm when I had a motorbike

 

[Dishmop]

I dont get your laughing point..

 

[yeogi75]

four wooden post and veryfine mesh around hive to stop wind the roof will keep top dry the bees will keep inside warm and dry

 

[user 6228]

I dont get your laughing point..

research into cold and damp shows it doesnt rise (rising damp in houses is a myth)