Irish Beekeepers

[Liam C Ryan]

A small German discount supermarket chain has reflector foil for sale at the moment. The foil could be used to insulate inside the roof of a hive to keep the bees cozy for the winter, it may have other insulating uses as well. It has an 1/8" EPS coating on the back and is 6m x 0.5m in size .Costs around 8eu.
Regards
Liam C

 

[jezd]

a mistake in my view, that is just one big moisture barrier, plus I do think ppl worry too much about cold (me too in the past), never seen a hollow tree come with extra insulation

just my thoughts

 

[johnandyrob]

I was under the impression that in wooden hives top insulation went hand in hand with omf for winter

 

[Skyhook]

I was under the impression that in wooden hives top insulation went hand in hand with omf for winter

That is the general idea, and the way I'm doing it- but I agree about the condensation, I'll stick with 50mm of foam board rather than a bit of space blanket. Not sure what the u-value is, but I suspect it's not that great.

 

[jezd]

I was under the impression that in wooden hives top insulation went hand in hand with omf for winter

love the rules, anyway there is a world of difference between insulation and some foil based moisture barrier

each to their own

 

[johnandyrob]

May be their is also a world of difference in the insulating effect of a hollow tree and a wooden box

 

[Liam C Ryan]

Just to say the foil is a heat reflector used to reduce heat loss trough walls and nothing got to do with moisture. Don,t know anything about u-value

 

[Spikedog]

Hi Liam C ... I had already picked up a role to place over fondant (Eek in use) and help maintain heat level... I have aeroboard insulation in roof (over crownboard) ... thought the reflective material might compensate for eek space cooling. Would have a concen that the reflective surface just might allow condensation ... but this is an absolute novice finding his way with first Hives.

 

[oliver90owner]

Not sure what to make of this thread but an awful lot of separated thinking (as in not joined up) going on, as far as I can see, just for starters.

Horses for courses and all that. The combinations are not quite endless, but the permutations are numerous. Try it if you're not sure. Get a large sheet of paper, though, and choose all the options you can find from:

Solid floor, OMF, matchsticks, permeable quilt, box of sawdust, box of woodshavings, sheets of EPS in one of several thicknesses, (25, 50, 75, 100mm), average type crownboard with 2 porter bee escapes, CB with one feeder hole, CB with no orifices at all, glass CBs, Acrylic CBs, polycarbonate CBs, top ventilation through holes in CB, top ventilation around the CB, no top ventilation, polyurethane insulation, carpet tile insulation, newspaper insulation, no insulation, Kingspan (in various thicknesses) and a load of other alternatives, I am sure.

The right combination of insulation and ventilation will work and there are a lot of them. Some may approach an ideal and some may be adequate but falling short of ideal - some even are decidely less than ideal and may be a woeful choice for a set of given conditions.

Me? I try to emulate polyhives. They seem to work very well indeed for over-wintering.

Have fun.

RAB

 

[Liam C Ryan]

I find that if one buys a complete hive kit or flat pack, the roof covers are not deep enough to install kingspan but this foil is only 1/8" thick so can be inserted without much loss to the debth of the roof

 

[johnandyrob]

View attachment 5390 Some thing like this

 

[Erichalfbee]

I find that if one buys a complete hive kit or flat pack, the roof covers are not deep enough to install kingspan but this foil is only 1/8" thick so can be inserted without much loss to the debth of the roof

Use two layers of 50mm kingspan housed in a super atop the crown board.

This is good stuff too...............

 

[Ruary]

Well I don't know what all this fuss is about:

I over winter on OMF with no insulation on the crown board!

Ruary

 

[Poly Hive]

The normal OMF method is to insulate above which keeps the bees dry.

PH

 

[johnandyrob]

Well I don't know what all this fuss is about:

I over winter on OMF with no insulation on the crown board!

Ruary

Its all down to personal choice what works for you and what is best for the bees. I believe from the information that I have gleaned from several sources that open mesh floors and top insulation is the way forward so much so I have gone a step further and now use poly.

 

[mbc]

Everything written recently seems to point towards poly as being best apart from this : "They both scouted and ignored the Poly National bait hive." picked out of the "feral bees and bait hives" thread. Somehow rings true to me, let the bees decide and then how many would go for poly ?
Are we shoehorning these creatures into poly to fit in with our ideas ?

 

[susbees]

Everything written recently seems to point towards poly as being best apart from this : "They both scouted and ignored the Poly National bait hive." picked out of the "feral bees and bait hives" thread. Somehow rings true to me, let the bees decide and then how many would go for poly ?
Are we shoehorning these creatures into poly to fit in with our ideas ?

I look forward to a balanced discussion on this...

 

[johnandyrob]

Everything written recently seems to point towards poly as being best apart from this : "They both scouted and ignored the Poly National bait hive." picked out of the "feral bees and bait hives" thread. Somehow rings true to me, let the bees decide and then how many would go for poly ?
Are we shoehorning these creatures into poly to fit in with our ideas ?

We have shoehorned bees into skeps and wooden boxes of different dimensions for hundreds of years. Have a look at poly hives videos and you will see a swarm populating a poly nuc. One that I belie was not put out as a designated bait hive.

" Straw hive are incomparably better for bees than any other kind of hive yet introduced. Nothing better is needed and we believe nothing better will ever be found."
Pettigrew, The Handy Book of Bees 1875

 

[scuttlefish]

I find that if one buys a complete hive kit or flat pack, the roof covers are not deep enough to install kingspan but this foil is only 1/8" thick so can be inserted without much loss to the debth of the roof

You could try extending the roof sides with a plywood skirt to give you more room inside to fit insulation - might not look pretty from the outside depending on what your woodwork skills are like but should do the trick.

 

[Bob Bee]

I look forward to a balanced discussion on this...