Poly roof diy info please

[wightbees]

I need to make loads roofs so I'm thinking that diy poly might be a idea as the bees will not likely chew it, hopefully? Anyone made any with pics of possible please.

 

[pargyle]

I need to make loads roofs so I'm thinking that diy poly might be a idea as the bees will not likely chew it, hopefully? Anyone made any with pics of possible please.

You should have a crown board under the roof - either plywood or what a lot of us are using now is clear 6mm polycarbonate. There should be no holes in the crown board or. if there is, they should be covered over when they are not being used for a feeder.

With the crown board in place the bees can't get at the roof so there's no issue. Bees won't usually chew the high density poly that hives are made out of but the stuff that is used for packaging (very light by comparison) they will attack.

Are you, perhaps, thinking of PIR/Celotex/Kingspan ? This is good to use for roofs and easy to construct.

 

[Poly Hive]

What might work for you is to make the roofs from 9 mm ply then cover with fibre glass to weather proof them. Then put inside the roof at least an 1" preferably 2" of insulation. Bees love warmth.

PH

 

[wightbees]

What might work for you is to make the roofs from 9 mm ply then cover with fibre glass to weather proof them. Then put inside the roof at least an 1" preferably 2" of insulation. Bees love warmth.

PH

I did think of fibre glass but i seem to get in hell of a mess every time i use the stuff. Would rather do something a bit simpler

 

[mbc]

I use an insulated crown board under a plastic garden tray

 

[wightbees]

I use an insulated crown board under a plastic garden tray

That's interesting idea, what size is the tray and how much?

 

[linoleum bonypart]

Slightly bigger than 460mm sq

 

[Poly Hive]

Roofing felt then.

PH

 

[B+.]

You should have a crown board under the roof - either plywood or what a lot of us are using now is clear 6mm polycarbonate. There should be no holes in the crown board or. if there is, they should be covered over when they are not being used for a feeder.

6m polycarbonate is just a crown board made from a different material. Its not at all necessary.
I just buy a 50m * 2m roll of clear plastic sheet from the builders merchant (vapour barrier?). It works fine. Whenever I need to replace some, I just cut a strip off the roll. People worry that it is too flimsy and violates bee space. I've used it for quite a number of years and there is no problem with it.

 

[fatshark]

Correx roof, over a thick polythene 'crownboard'.
That'll be £1.55 please ;-)

 

[14x12]

I was at our local dump this week and managed to get several large sheets of triple ply roofing from a conservatory that has been pulled down. Cost £10 for the lot and will make great roofs.

 

[mbc]

That's interesting idea, what size is the tray and how much?

Slightly over size for a national and you can pick them up for around a fiver if you shop around on the net.

 

[charlievictorbravo]

I go along with Pargyle's idea. My roofs are made of Recticel - minimum 30mm in the walls, 75mm in the roof, covered on the top by a home-fabricated aluminium cover to shed rain. The roof covers the whole of the brood box and crown board in the winter. The exposed edges of the cut Recticel are protected by adhesive aluminium tape. All the Recticel is painted externally with smooth masonry paint as the photo shows.

CVB

 

[Erichalfbee]

Mine are similar, though not quite as pretty

 

[pargyle]

I go along with Pargyle's idea. My roofs are made of Recticel - minimum 30mm in the walls, 75mm in the roof, covered on the top by a home-fabricated aluminium cover to shed rain. The roof covers the whole of the brood box and crown board in the winter. The exposed edges of the cut Recticel are protected by adhesive aluminium tape. All the Recticel is painted externally with smooth masonry paint as the photo shows.

CVB

Oh my ... Those are rather smart ...very good and the bees will love them.

 

[Erichalfbee]

50mm Recticel.
Another 50mm on top of crown board