As for polystyrene to challenge a few of the points raised earlier, the blowing gas for polystrene is not a CFC these were banned years ago. It is now blown using pentane.
Lemon tea does dissolve polystyrene, the lemon oil (which is an organic solvent, in the chemical sense of the words) dissolves out of the rind and melts the polystrene. This isn't a problem unless your bees drink lemon tea. Tolulene does dissolve polystyrene, it also cleans engines very effectively, so while it would melt a poly hive if you poured it over the top, it would also clean the diesel and old engine oil off the naturally preserved old wooden hives still in use.
The results for food contact testing of polystyrene and the transfer of sytrene monomer all show that the rate of transfer is dependent on the temperature of the foodstuff and the fat content. This again should not be a problem in a beehive, unless the bees like to eat burgers. Polystrene is approved for food contact use in the EU and US.
Styrene is a naturally occurring substance, it is naturally present in a whole range of foods from coffee to strawberries and is therefore regularly eaten by us, all the time and will obviously be present in tissue samples.
Polystrene is completely recyclable and to recycle it uses less energy and water to recycle than paper or cardboard, the problem is local authorities do not usually offer a kerbside recycling facility making it inconvenient for the public to recycle. However, some authorities have now started to offer polystyrene recycling.
If it does end up in landfill, the fact that it doesn't biodegrade is a huge advantage. Bio degradation in landfill produces landfill gas which is hugely polluting and contaminants leach out into groundwater, this doesn't occur from polysytrene.
If it is incinerated in an energy from waste plant it has a higher energy density than coal and make the plant more efficient and it burns cleanly producing only CO2 water and a trace of ash.
I also have a major issue with single use polystyrene cartons not being recycled (particularly if they end up in the sea), but then I also have an issue with the apple juice cartons I use every day not being recycled. Both are completely recyclable, but my local authority won't recycle them, so they end up in landfill which puts my council tax up.
A beehive is not a single use item and will last for years, the bees do much better in them, and use over the lifetime of the beehive much less sugar which is pretty energy intensive to produce.
Ross
