Floors

[mbc]

Its high time a uk manufacturer offered reasonable plastic floors.
A rot proof floor in recycled plastic can cost as little as 7 eu in france, surely a national version could be made with little effort and sold for a profit at half the price of the next nearest offering.

 

[Erichalfbee]

Now that's an interesting idea.
I never knew such things existed.

 

[enrico]

With hooks on the back for weighing
E

 

[mbc]

Bells and whistles too if you want them, should still be at half the price of a poly or cedar floor.

 

[mbc]

https://www.icko-apiculture.com/fr/ruche/plateaux-fonds-de-ruche/plateaux-nicot-10-cadres.html

This sort of thing

 

[Chris Manton]

My dad looked at getting a mould made and its at least 10 grand. We're sick of delaminating plywood and soggy bottoms.

 

[Jimmy]

https://www.icko-apiculture.com/fr/ruche/plateaux-fonds-de-ruche/plateaux-nicot-10-cadres.html

This sort of thing

I thought the swienty poly offering might do the job but then checked the price

 

[oliver90owner]

I have some poly floors to poly hives, but timber and S/S mesh floors are cheap and easy to put together. If I needed any more floors, whether for timber or poly broods I would use home made ones.

Heat loss downwards is not a real problem through the floor frames and, with OMFs, it becomes rather immaterial. I would not even contemplate making a floor frame with ply and any plywood edges need protection from the elements to prevent water ingress and subsequent delamination. I would neither make them, or buy them, like that. If I had done, I would not be doing it again!

RAB

 

[peterbees]

https://www.icko-apiculture.com/fr/ruche/plateaux-fonds-de-ruche/plateaux-nicot-10-cadres.html

This sort of thing

Good idea.
And maybe recycled plastic National hive roofs. Typical price for a cedar and metal roof £25 to £40.

 

[Jambo]

With hooks on the back for weighing
E

Integrated bluetooth/wireless loadcells you mean

 

[enrico]

Integrated bluetooth/wireless loadcells you mean

Absolutely.

 

[Finman]

.
I prefer wooden floors. I can clean then with flame.
.

 

[madasafish]

I have some poly floors to poly hives, but timber and S/S mesh floors are cheap and easy to put together. If I needed any more floors, whether for timber or poly broods I would use home made ones.

Heat loss downwards is not a real problem through the floor frames and, with OMFs, it becomes rather immaterial. I would not even contemplate making a floor frame with ply and any plywood edges need protection from the elements to prevent water ingress and subsequent delamination. I would neither make them, or buy them, like that. If I had done, I would not be doing it again!

RAB

I use ply for underfloor entrances: seal edges with a PVA glue/water mix and then smear PU glue - a thin layer - on when dry.. Seems to work well but a PIA.

 

[linoleum bonypart]

I saw Richard Noel in France had a good looking floor on his videos

 

[Teemore]

Google "Stock Board" or "Stokbord" for your recycled plastic sheets. I have encountered it in the same generic thicknesses as plywood and considered using it when making roofs. Yet to find any at the right price (i.e. free) to try out.

 

[Dadnlad]

It's possible to buy recycled plastic 2b1 for around a tenner for a 3m length, ideal for making floors but I havent figured out a way of pinning varroa mesh to it yet. It's high density polyethylene and doesn't take nails or glue well apparently

 

[oliver90owner]

doesn't take nails or glue well apparently

Drill and screw (or small bolts with nuts)?

 

[Chris Manton]

We tried plastic floors from reclaimed plastic sheets. It just didnt work. They bent when they got hot and slipped the brood box far to easy.

Screwing and tapping took far to long so we brad nailed them. This worked ok.

Overall a waste of over a grand.

 

[Jimmy]

With open mesh floors, what's the benefit of having a separate brood box and floor arrangement? If an integrated floor works for polynucs, why not for full sized colonies?

 

[Into the lions den]

With open mesh floors, what's the benefit of having a separate brood box and floor arrangement? If an integrated floor works for polynucs, why not for full sized colonies?

Interchangeability. Its important in full colony management. Nucs never need nest rotation, full hives do, at least in our system, and the only ways round that is vast broodboxes or very low vigour bees. (Both worse than the problem you are trying to solve.)

Also to other points in thread................look up the website of NICOT...they have a range of good plastic floors.

BUT

As touched on by Chris Manton....they are very slippy unless made in a manner that reduces that. Not only can the broodbox/floor interface be too slippy....the one between the floor and the hive stand/pallet or whatever can also be. Seen a strong wind clear a pallet of full colonies due to lack of friction.

A good idea that has a lot of drawbacks, especially if you don't get the grade of plastic right. Deforming in heat is quite an issue. Even plastic pallets can warp and sag when its warm and the hives are heavy.