Marine ply or not?

[kronkie]

Hi,

I am sure this has been debated on this site before but I cannot find it so here goes, I am thinking of making my own hives and ply is so easy to get hold of as opposed to cedar,is this material acceptable?

Thanks in advance

kronkie.

 

[wannaBkeeper]

Hi,

this thread may help from last week.
http://www.beekeepingforum.co.uk/showthread.php?t=6024

Dave

 

[Tom Bick]

In the title you refer to Marine Ply if you are intending to use Marine Ply then sorry this type of ply is not easily available its more of a specialist timber suppliers and the good marine ply is far more expensive than Cedar.

If not marine ply and just referring to an exterior ply as marine then what you are looking for is a WBP (Weather and Boil Proof) this is a general exterior ply and easily available but ask for WBP or look for a stamp showing WBP. With this ply with a lot of things you get good and bad.

Sorry for the lesson but sometimes people think B&Q sell marine ply.

 

[victor meldrew]

Marine ply? they sell crap ply !
It de laminates and you get splinters just lifting it off the rack, let alone putting a saw to it ! Sold as WBP!

John

 

[kronkie]

Thats fine with me TB, just happy for the info.

 

[Vortex]

The quality of B&Q's ply varies both from year to year and season to season. It also varies according to where you are in the country. You just have to know what you're buying.
The 18mm ply I got early last year was marine grade but what they had in stock when I checked earlier this year was no where near the same quality.
It's worth keeping an eye on ebay - sometimes you can pick up marine ply cheap - usually somebody selling off the remainder of a pallet as it was cheaper for them to buy it this way in the first place; but as before you have to know what you're buying.

 

[darren64]

I made my brood boxes from marine ply,but I would not make supers with it because I find it too heavy.

 

[beebreeder]

All my 14x12 and normal National kit is ply and so are all my Nuc boxes, but its WBP not Marine, as was stated earlier marine ply would work out far more expensive than cedar.
I buy from Wicks but I shop around and check quality as it varies greatly. If you go ahead and use ply take extra time sealing all exposed end plys/grain as that where they usually delaminate first

 

[Black Comb]

I'm planning to make up a few nuc boxes and was going to use marine.

Timber merchant I use lists 8' x 4' sheet
12mm £35.86 inc VAT
18mm £53.67 inc VAT

How many nat nucs should I get from a sheet and will 12mm suffice?
OSB for roof with metal or felt over.

 

[RoofTops]

Sounds cheap for marine ply. I would look along the edges - if there are gaps or "voids" then it is not real marine ply as if I remember correctly the BS for marine ply states zero voids. This is why it is so expensive and you can pay £100 for a sheet I think.

However, this does not means someone isn't trying to sell it as marine ply.

 

[SER]

I have made both nucs and brood boxes from ply, the nucs were 12mm Far Eastern exterior and the broods 18mm shuttering ply.

Both have been outside for 18 months and show no sign of delaminating or any real wear. I think if you make a point of going through the heap an picking out good sheets, sealing the edges and giving good coats of preservative you'll be surprised how non marine ply will hold up.

I know for sure they will be out lived many times over by my cedar boxes but the ply was to hand, cheap and the easy option at the time.

Si.

 

[darren64]

marine ply is between £80 and a £100 for a 2.4m by 1.2m by 18mm thick sheet,it is a lot heavier than exterior grade ply.I made two brood boxes from off cuts that were lying around at work