m100
Field Bee
- Joined
- Jun 7, 2009
- Messages
- 821
- Reaction score
- 0
- Location
- Yorkshire
- Hive Type
- 14x12
- Number of Hives
- Enough
I would make up a mould 5mm larger all round than the roof size and about 40mm deep...
All it needs is waterproofing so unless its for mass production for a particular manufacturers 'standard' roof a mould is unnecessary. Mask up with resin proof tape a couple of inches down the sides, apply a layer of layup resin, followed by a couple of layers of 300gsm (1 oz) CSM well wetted out, let it go off for a couple of hours and then apply a final topcoat of wax inhibited gelcoat (called topcoat by some) so that the final surface isn't tacky.
I'm not aware of bees sensitivity to styrene (the source of the 'fibreglass smell' ) although it might explain why some of my bees misbehave but one thing for sure the smell won't simply disappear after 2 months... choose a hot day, stick your head into the passenger compartment of a car with a fibreglass body, they still smell of styrene for 10 years or more after they left the mould despite low styrene resins and vacuum moulding techniques that permit a very low resin fraction such that they resemble chalk dust internally. Of course you could always use epoxy rather than polyester resin to avoid any smell issues, but that costs a damn sight more.
I've professionally costed medium sized wind installations and can assure you that they really do pay!
Price in the cost of conventionally fuelled or nuclear backup for the wind turbine that generates for roughly 20% of the year and fails completely to generate when there is a blocking high such as existed from January to May this year, and you'll find that wind turbines are indirectly the most polluting form of energy on the planet. Take away the obscene subsidies, make them pay for the 100% reserve and wind turbines would be consigned to history. They are about as much use as the plastic ones stuck to a cane plonked on a sandcastle on the beach.