Painting a bee hive

[philipm]

Used to make all my own stuff marine ply was too heavy and expensive so started buying in cedar but now with the price of flat packs its no longer worth it. I still make some stuff in the winter when its too wet to go out. Its surprising what you can find for nothing old pallets make some good stands and things like eke's, Just stripped down our old dishwasher some nice thin stainless sheet ideal for roof covering. Suppose its all to do with living in Cardiganshire/Ceredigion.

 

[pargyle]

Tbh I was not prepared for the cost of bee keeping and amount of equipment required. My better 1/2 was not fully on board with my new pursuit to begin with and was horrified with the costs involved. So I had to do everything possible to keep costs down. Using ply has given me a cheap way to get started. But now the miss loves bees, so fortunately I am allowed to spend a little more.

My roofs are made from a ply off cut deep eak, with pallet wood over the top, water proofed with a bin bag! Them Yorkshiremen always think they are the experts at being tight, well I cut one bin bag in half to cover 2 hives - beat that. I am not recommending this, but when there are bees in the tree and the budget is spent...
/QUOTE]

YES... I know the feeling, there are daunting costs in the first few years - When I started beekeeping my first hive (still very serviceable) was made almost entirely from reclaimed materials. 'Er indoors still hates my bees (except when she wants a jar of honey for one of her mates) and I still tread a very thin line about what I spend on my beekeeping. Fortunately, the honey sales are quite obvious and most of my costs are covered by reinvesting the money from those (I won't say profit as I know from my calculations that I have ALWAYS run at a loss as a running total - but - it's a hobby and you have to expect it to cost you something).

As for roofs .. I often see part rolls of roofing felt for sale on Gumtree - and very occasionally offered on Freecycle. It makes a very durable and effective roof covering You can get an awful lot of roof coverings out of a 10m roll ... Even if you have to splash out £20 for a new roll it's not a huge expense.

https://www.screwfix.com/p/roof-pro-green-shed-felt-10-x-1m/820ht

It's flexible enough to do 'hospital corners' and I used it on one of my sheds a couple of years ago and it is still in good order, it's a bit thinner than more expensive felts but actually that's better for hive roofs where there is a fair bit of folding required. Cheap but - better even than Waitrose carrier bags ..

 

[bobba]

Please forgive me Bee Boys, I feel I have hi-jacked your thread and taken it off topic. (and i do have a tendency to ramble, if you had not already noticed)

I have been pondering, roofing felt, thin (cheap) vinyl flooring and finally I saw a video where a guy was using this stuff called mylar. It was shiny plastic that came on a roll. He was saying you need a reflective top to keep the hive cool. However he was somewhere in the USA.

So I have been unsure if I should go for dark felt, a light vinyl or shiny plastic. I was kind of leaning towards the vinyl, lighter colour to keep cool in summer as I use insulation in winter anyway.

The miss has gone more bee crazy than me. With out asking, my bee area was given planning permission for a huge expansion, she said "I think you can fit 8 hives there!".

I was in over my head with 3 and have 4 now! 8 is not happening. My original plan was to have 2 by now and max out at 3. So now the plan is to down size to 3, and see how I get on for a few more seasons.

But its very entertaining how the dynamic has changed.

 

[Bee Boys]

Bobba,
Do not worry I have appreciated your posts.
Thank you all.
Bee boys

 

[drex]

Bobba- keep the insulation in all year round and you need not worry about colour of roof, as the insulation will prevent over heating in summer.

 

[Niv]

Bobba- keep the insulation in all year round and you need not worry about colour of roof, as the insulation will prevent over heating in summer.

Do you make cut outs for the roof vents or just cover them? To date i have not put insulation in but was wondering if people do keep vents clear or not as I am partly concerned about condensation.

I do have some insulation knocking around which would be good to use i think.

 

[E&MBees]

Do you make cut outs for the roof vents or just cover them? To date i have not put insulation in but was wondering if people do keep vents clear or not as I am partly concerned about condensation.

I do have some insulation knocking around which would be good to use i think.

I cut small recesses out of the insulation for the roof vents when I fitted some last year. I wasn't sure what to do. I'm sure that the more experienced keepers will be be able to advise.

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

Vents in the roofs are an anachronism from the days of the old 'keep em cold keep em mean' brigade.
Like gaping holes in crownboards they are totally unneccessary and unneeded.
block the vents and fill the whole space with 40 or 50mm of Celotex (Kingspan) Glue it in and make it a permanent fixture.

 

[Niv]

Thank you both E&M and Jenkinsbrynmir. I was erring on your approach JBM (I think that what people abbreviate you too) as when I think about it, I block one crownboard vent with a bit of wood and in winter cover the other with a tub of fondant anyway!

Sometimes, just saying it out load (so to speak) makes the answer a bit more obvious...

I have a supply of kingspan left over from a house job so will get that cut up and installed!

Thanks,

 

[drex]

My roof vents are permanently blocked with 2 inches of Kingspan. I have made lots of solid ( no holes) crown boards. I have put hinged slides of mesh and/ or Perspex over the Porter escape holes in the crown boards that came with the hives. They can then be used for feeding, or in vertical splits etc

 

[Gilberdyke John]

If you can run to it the old style Abelo poly roofs are just the best wooden hive topper.

I agree entirely

 

[Curley]

As for roofs .. I often see part rolls of roofing felt for sale on Gumtree - and very occasionally offered on Freecycle. It makes a very durable and effective roof covering You can get an awful lot of roof coverings out of a 10m roll ... Even if you have to splash out £20 for a new roll it's not a huge expense.

[ ..

Haven't tried roofing felt but will have a go - thanks for that Phil. Have successfully used butyl pond liner. Folds very nicely for the corners and roofs are still good five years on (apart from one where I rested the smoker - newbee roof makers take note - I'm not sure roofing felt would fare much better)

 

[Niv]

I have made my own nucs and found that edpm makes a good roof covering. Not sure how cost effective it is compared to what others are using but it was left over from doing my shed. So far so good.

 

[pargyle]

Haven't tried roofing felt but will have a go - thanks for that Phil. Have successfully used butyl pond liner. Folds very nicely for the corners and roofs are still good five years on (apart from one where I rested the smoker - newbee roof makers take note - I'm not sure roofing felt would fare much better)

A small square of plywood in your bee box to put on hive roofs that will suffer the dreaded 'smoker ring' is a good investment - as long as you remember to put it under your smoker ! Polystyrene roofs are particularly susceptible.

 

[bobba]

I have crowns with a single feeder hole in the center. I keep blocked with a little bit of wood in summer then with the insulation it in winter. Basically I only open the hold to feed. I also run OMF and left them open all winter.

I do this for the reasons jenkinsbrynmair has highlighted. I don't know if this way is the best, but both my hives made it through their first winter so it has worked for me thus far.

My thinking is that if the roof is insulated any condensation should form on the walls, and not drip on the bees.

I also make my stands a little taller than normal. I often see a layer of fog/mist in my garden in the winter, so made my stands to keep the hives above the mist layer.

drex - I like the suggestion of keeping the insulation on the hives year around. It saves having to store them too.

 

[Hebeegeebee]

Vents in the roofs are an anachronism from the days of the old 'keep em cold keep em mean' brigade.
Like gaping holes in crownboards they are totally unneccessary and unneeded.
block the vents and fill the whole space with 40 or 50mm of Celotex (Kingspan) Glue it in and make it a permanent fixture.

Agreed. But the hive manufacturers still like to ventilate.

 

[madasafish]

A small square of plywood in your bee box to put on hive roofs that will suffer the dreaded 'smoker ring' is a good investment - as long as you remember to put it under your smoker ! Polystyrene roofs are particularly susceptible.

Even better wire a small square of ply to the underneath of your smoker..Does not intrude, weighs little.. no more holes in anything..

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

Agreed. But the hive manufacturers still like to ventilate.

Only because they still cater for the dinosaur/non thinking beekeeper.

 

[Gilberdyke John]

Only because they still cater for the dinosaur/non thinking beekeeper.

Snap! You got there first.

 

[pargyle]

Even better wire a small square of ply to the underneath of your smoker..Does not intrude, weighs little.. no more holes in anything..

Why didn't I think about that ! Dohhh...