Poly hive repair

[Andy Coleman]

I've been running a couple of poly hives for the last two seasons, and very pleased with results, so can recommend.

But on one site the roof seems to have been attacked by a woodpecker, several pits hacked a couple of centimetres into the, thankfully thick, polystyrene. What ever it was seems to have given up before breaking through. Must admit I hadn't expected wood pecker damage, I thought they only pecked wood! Talking to the supplier they say they have experienced this themselves (they are moving over gradually to their own polys). Only affected the roof, so I suppose they can't perch on the brood box sides like they seem to with wood boxes.

Does anyone know what substance is good to fill these holes with? The supplier sells something for £6.60 plus delivery, but I wonder if it's just a common product I can get from B&Q?

 

[itma]

Woodpeckers don't peck wood for fun, or for the wood.
They do it to get at what's inside (on trees its grubs under the bark).

They certainly can go through the sides of polyhives - I've seen the result at the Association apiary. (Sorry, can't yet report on the success or otherwise of the repair that was to be attempted.)

If you have poly hives, they need at least as good protection as wooden hives ...

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

Does anyone know what substance is good to fill these holes with?

Polyfillla?

 

[itma]

Polyfillla?

Better used by taxidermists for stuffing parrots ...


The idea being attempted on the fist-sized hole in the club hive is to clamp a plastic covered backing board inside the hive, wedge some wire mesh into the hole, poked into the existing plastic to key things together, and then fill the hole with gap-filler foam. After the foam has hardened, the support board and its plastic 'release' layer are supposed to be removed.
Should be strong enough, but I'm not too sure what the bees may make of the inside surface. Maybe it'll need "surface finishing" with the official product.

 

[YorkshireBees]

I used some pre-mixed wood filler to repair a small crack in the front of a polynuc with no adverse affects.

Was advised to try the product on a small piece of polystyrene first just to make sure it didn't contain anything to dissolve it!

 

[sipa]

All purpose filler from W*lkinson works just fine.

I have got some woodpecker damage on the roofs too.

 

[Finman]

.
You need polyurethane glue. Moist a little the plastic and glue attach on it.
Small hole you may fill with glue. It forms foam and hardens. Use mold that you get good surface. Plastic or plastic tape.

In bigger holes use piece of stiff foam plastic board.
Don't use stuff which absorbs water.

Learn to use polyurethane glue.

Water hardens the glue. Protect your fingers. You cannot wash it away.

 

[thorn]

Go with the supplier's recommendation. If it doesn't work you can go back to them. For £6.60 you'll probably find there's enough to do further repairs if Woodie Woodpecker doesn't give up. And given the size of tin of whatever you'd have to buy from Wilco or B&Q, would there be much of a saving?

 

[BeeJayBee]

You can use expanding foam filler, which might be what the supplier is offering.

Fill the hole, let it set and cut the top surface level with a sharp blade, then paint it to match the rest of the hive.

Once local woodpeckers have learned to attack your hives they'll do it again, it doesn't matter what they're made of. You'll probably need to protect them with chicken wire, or similar, next winter.

 

[Winker]

You can use expanding foam filler, which might be what the supplier is offering.

Fill the hole, let it set and cut the top surface level with a sharp blade, then paint it to match the rest of the hive.

Once local woodpeckers have learned to attack your hives they'll do it again, it doesn't matter what they're made of. You'll probably need to protect them with chicken wire, or similar, next winter.

I use expanding foam and then level it off with a blade and paint. Works a treat

 

[oliver90owner]

The Paines roofs may well benefit from a layer of expanded mesh, to deter the woodpeckers, with a fixative over. I'm surprised they did not go straight through their roofs!

 

[m100]

Probably because just like beeks who buy them without taking a closer look, they don't realise how poor the roof design is and how thin the poly is.

 

[itma]

Probably because just like beeks who buy them without taking a closer look, they don't realise how poor the roof design is and how thin the poly is.

No. This is not about design or thinness.
Peckers go through thicker hive walls quite happily, wood or plastic.

They don't tend to go through a traditional roof because of the waterproofing tin.


It is a valid point that while a tin-roof hive only needs the sides protected, a plastic-roof hive needs top protection as well.



/ and I don't like P's roof, which is slightly thinner than it ought to be, but that isn't the point here!

 

[Norvic_chris]

I don't like the P's poly roof either -- although I like the hive overall, it seems good value (though a little ugly!). I have contemplated adding a bit of tin to the top to increase its resilience overall (mine was slightly cracked almost from new) and its resistance to woodpeckers (I have several who are always taking a keen interest in my hive(s)). My local metal 'dealer' does a good-sized galvanised sheet for £4 and I thought about adding an extra layer of polystyrene under this, to increase the insulation thickness while I'm at it (I just happen to have some very tough floor-grade poly left over from a conservatory floor!). I'm sure it will look hideous (yes, even worse than the original!) but I defy any pest to get through 150mm of rock-hard poly with a tin skin...

In terms of repairing, I did what Finman recommends for the crack -- it seems to have held. I also have a fair-sized tin of car bodyfiller in the garage (I'm into classics too), which seems to stick quite well in small holes but is too 'cold' I suspect for bigger ones. The expanding foam has to be the way to go -- I saw Scr*wf*x has it on offer -- seems the cheapest around.

 

[Hivemaker.]

so I suppose they can't perch on the brood box sides like they seem to with wood boxes.

There are a few pictures of damage to the sides of poly hives in the thread in this link, post 23 onwards. And two cedar WBC hives which remained untouched.

Woodpecker Armageddon....http://www.beekeepingforum.co.uk/showthread.php?t=8603&highlight=woodpecker+armageddon&page=3

 

[Finman]

.
If you need to repair water roof, note that polyurethane glue is not water tight. Water goes though the foarm patch a little.

2-component hardening glue is water tight and it attaches to plastic. Silicone glue or filler does not work with poly plastic.

.

 

[Norvic_chris]

And at the moment, the best place for good-value 2-pack glue in the UK is... P£land -- it's, unsurprisingly, a pound for one of those epoxy resin packs with the double-syringe mixing applicator. I've used the stuff for years and it seems as good as the branded glues, sets in about 6 minutes and doesn't seem to react too badly with the poly (unlike some of the paint I have used, oops!). As you can see, I'm carrying on the great bee-keeping tradition of thriftiness.

 

[beebreeder]

I have some Pxxxes this year to try, Roger said car bodyfiller is fine obviously not got any insulation value but a huge hole does'nt have any either

 

[IBeeHere]

Just found this
Wikipedia article http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyanoacrylate , one use for cyanoacrylate-based glue (superglues).
When added to baking soda (sodium bicarbonate), cyanoacrylate glue forms a hard, lightweight adhesive filler (baking soda is first used to fill a gap then the adhesive is dropped onto the baking soda). This works well with porous materials that the glue does not work well with alone. This method is sometimes used by aircraft modelers to assemble or repair polystyrene foam parts.
Might be worth a try

 

[user 6228]

Polyurethane foam gap filler has an insulation value as good as if not better than the surrounding poly. tape or paint will be needed as well.
I suggest that if you have problems with wood peckers you take the same precautions as for wooden hives.