poly nuc

[Bosleeu]

This is my personal preferred product
http://www.wickes.co.uk/Celotex-50mm-High-Performance-Cavity-Wall-Board-450x1200mm/p/190546
not least because the sheet is small enough to fit in the car! (Thicker stuff only comes in big sheets - or skips!)
The price has actually gone down since last year.
If fussed you can put 2x 50mm layers inside the eke (above the coverboard). One well-fitted one does wonders.
The 'board can be cut with a breadknife, though a long-bladed jigsaw and proper template might satisfy those more perfectionist than me.
Just lift the eke, insulation and roof as one to see inside.


Re the roof. Measure the thickness for yourself and compare it to the wall thickness.
Same material, more thickness = more insulation.
Where is the most effective place to put insulation in a house? (Heat rises!) Yet the nuc roof is less well insulated than its walls!


And I've found the pic that I remembered was on the forum somewhere …
Take a look at http://www.beekeepingforum.co.uk/showthread.php?p=351838&highlight=condensation+roof#post351838 though I personally find the insulation eke to be a less-fuss less-carpentry-skills (and so more appropriate to me) solution.
// And I've myself seen more condensation than that. It is well-reported by others on this forum as well.

/// Also note that, until they redesigned their poly national roof (fattening it, apart from anything else), condensation on the *hive* coversheet was also regularly reported. The fix is similar, Celotex cut to fit inside a super … and its no harm even if you have the new version of the roof.

Cool thanks! Do you ever put it on the inside of wooden roofs?


Just read that whole thread, it seems this insulation issue can be quite a contentious issue.

I plan to try and measure the temperature inside the little eke this winter and see how it fluctuates as a matter of interest.

 

[itma]

Cool thanks! Do you ever put it on the inside of wooden roofs?

Most of my hives are (Paynes) polys. But I do have 3 cedars. And in winter they have always had a (wooden) super full of Celotex above a no-hole coverboard. Same as with the original Paynes roof (now relegated to topping my stack of removed supers).
Actually, last winter my one 6" deep wooden roof had a 460mm square of celotex under it (without the wooden super).

I tend to keep the Celotex in the supers (and on the hives) until I run out of empty supers.
"Insulation is good. Always." - I came to this conclusion after discovering a retired Bee Inspector put his Celotex on (WBCs) with the Apiguard (extra hive warmth in cool weather helps the Thymol vaporisation …)

 

[Torq]

Thanks, Roola, and a great idea, but that's not really what I meant. I was more referring to my double-brood nuc box. So in this case, rather than staying in the nuc or going to the brood box and maybe rattling around all winter, you put them in the top and put comb or foundation down below. Then they can build down as they want or need.

So take a second nuc box, and cut it off horizontally at the thickness of the roof above the bottom of the frames (if it is still top beespace). Measure twice, cut once, although it is actually easy to correct mistakes. Take the roof and cut the appropriate hole then screw it to the bottom. Seal the joins with metallic tape and seal the feeder with wax or similar. Make up a second, properly-insulated roof and you have a brood box without integral floor. If you've measured twice, cut once, the bottoms of the frames are level with the bottom of the "roof", respceting beespace.

Incredibly useful bit of kit for anyone who uses nucs for increase, wintering or whatever. You can still use it as a nuc on the old floor with a bit of effort.

Any chance of a couple of pics of these double nucs?

 

[Bosleeu]

Most of my hives are (Paynes) polys. But I do have 3 cedars. And in winter they have always had a (wooden) super full of Celotex above a no-hole coverboard. Same as with the original Paynes roof (now relegated to topping my stack of removed supers).
Actually, last winter my one 6" deep wooden roof had a 460mm square of celotex under it (without the wooden super).

I tend to keep the Celotex in the supers (and on the hives) until I run out of empty supers.
"Insulation is good. Always." - I came to this conclusion after discovering a retired Bee Inspector put his Celotex on (WBCs) with the Apiguard (extra hive warmth in cool weather helps the Thymol vaporisation …)

Cheers I may get some for the one wooden hive I am wintering, it's roof is really thin. I have some empty supers as well.