Improve this poly hive design

[Apricot Slice]

Hello folks,

I am designing a poly hive (one that is aesthetically pleasing) and wondered if you had any thoughts on a particular aspect.

The roof is quite a shallow one and being polystyreen is quite light and susceptible to blowing away.

Instead of bricks, straps or latches or any other kind of unsightly stuff, what do you think of the idea of making a compartment in the roof where a couple of bricks worth of cement/concrete can be poured to give the roof weight.
I.E. a heavy roof.

 

[Amari]

Hello folks,

I am designing a poly hive (one that is aesthetically pleasing) and wondered if you had any thoughts on a particular aspect.

The roof is quite a shallow one and being polystyreen is quite light and susceptible to blowing away.

Instead of bricks, straps or latches or any other kind of unsightly stuff, what do you think of the idea of making a compartment in the roof where a couple of bricks worth of cement/concrete can be poured to give the roof weight.
I.E. a heavy roof.View attachment 24461

Thick slabs of lead might have a weight/volume advantage?

 

[Boston Bees]

Light roofs aren't a problem with poly hives. We just strap them down. And modern poly roofs aren't actually that light anyway. Good luck with the design though.

 

[user 6228]

Why has it got top vents/entrances?

 

[Apricot Slice]

Why has it got top vents/entrances?

English wbc bee escape at top. next one down is vent/enterance like on many poly hives. I copied that from an Abelo hive I own.

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

Why has it got top vents/entrances?

Makes sense really - you need vents to get rid of all that unwanted heat trapped by the polystyrene

 

[Sanntos]

English wbc bee escape at top. next one down is vent/enterance like on many poly hives. I copied that from an Abelo hive I own.

11 out of 12 months they are only making it harder for the colonys ability to control the airflow, temperature and moist in the hive.

 

[Gilberdyke John]

11 out of 12 months they are only making it harder for the colonys ability to control the airflow, temperature and moist in the hive.

I've a few Abelo national polyhives. The vent holes are plugged with the tapered plugs on commissioning. The plugs stay there evermore.
I also spot glue the poly capping discs down in the poly crownboard. Most of my hives have clear crownboards with Celotex laid on.

 

[Apricot Slice]

This is my 2nd year of bee keeping so I dont't know the half of it. I added the vent hole/enterance because I assume that the poly manufacturers know something I dont. The escape of that sort is found on traditional WBC's so I added it and so bees can escape.
My national poly stays plugged also.

Heavy lid vs lid with bricks on?

 

[ericbeaumont]

the poly manufacturers know something I dont

Not as much as you'd like to believe.

All poly manufacturers have made significant errors in design and manufacture; some they rectify expensively and some they don't.

What drives your need to design a hive?

 

[Monbees]

Heavy lid vs lid with bricks on?

Just bricks on top, four bricks in a gale, otherwise two. Wouldn't be able to lift the lid off the ground if you had that weight in the roof - well I wouldn't!

 

[drdrday]

Heavy lid vs lid with bricks on?

Lid with bricks on. Or better yet, just a strap.
I replaced my shallow roofs with deep roofs, and the extra couple of inches of wood makes them noticeably heavier and therefore a bit more awkward to lift off. Wouldn't fancy lifting a lid filled with concrete!

 

[drex]

I struggle to lift my cedar roofs onto bait boxes on top of my sheds. No need for extra weight. If you want to fix the roof down to the top box, make the roof a bit deeper and drill a hole through it and top box and put a wood skewer through the two. Would need to keep the "top box" always on the top though.

 

[Apricot Slice]

Makes sense. Dividing up the weight with a number of bricks. Its not easy for me to judge because I am quite lifty.

What drives your need to design a hive?

I like the National poly hive that I own from a practical point of view (with the possible exception of it being peppered with vent holes) and I love the iconic WBC look. So, being a CAD tinkerer, I designed something that I wanted to amuse myself.
I get the idea that if a WBC was available in a convenient form, it would be a good seller in the UK.

 

[ericbeaumont]

a practical point of view

This ergonomic goal evaded many of the current poly designers: pointless curvy bits which ought to be square (Swienty box tops reduce thermal efficiency) or waste of resource landing boards (Paynes) or vent holes which ignore the hollow tree principle (Abelo).

Although the WBC trad shape fans the flames of nostalgia I reckon a poly copy would be wasteful of material, with unnecessary ledges and other Victorian vicar affectations. If you could delete those...

Fair to say that the WBC air sandwich between outer and inner layers is pretty thermally efficient as it is; with poly walls and poly boxes it might turn out to be the best of the lot.

 

[Apricot Slice]

Improve this poly hive design.
Also let me know if a hive like this would be of interest if it were available.
The idea was to replicate the WBC in a polyhive form. Because reasons. And it looks good. And its way more practical than an original WBC.
I have gone with a solid bottom board in this model. Also because reasons.
I welcome constructive and destructive criticism alike.
Ready your rotten tomatoes. Put you thinking caps on.
CAD model is on grabcad.

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

Well as it's just solid WBC shaped poly boxes rather than separate lifts and inner boxes, you definitely don't need the bee escapes in the roof as, unless you foolishly leave gaping holes in the crown boards, you won't get bees in there (the reason for the bee escapes in the WBC roofs was to allow any bees that got trapped between the lifts and the inners to get out)

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

but what is that empty box between the super and the roof, with the great big hole in the middle all about?

 

[BigAshW]

but what is that empty box betwwen the super and the roof, with the great big hole in the middle all about?

Is it like the multifunction crown board bee equipment sell? Could drop a feeder/fondant in there or insulation over winter?

 

[Apricot Slice]

but what is that empty box between the super and the roof, with the great big hole in the middle all about?

Like what BigAshW says. put a feeder in it.
Escapes to let trapped bees escape but also keeps the 'look' of the wbc. Didn't William invent those cone escapes?