Preparation for overwintering polynucs

[Finman]

My dad always said "it's a poor workman who always blames his tools for a poor job"

That more than true. My dad was carpenter and kept his tools in good condition. To quarantee that he did not give me to use them.
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[Finman]

and short hot

summers making for more intense and reliable honey flows?

You think so.

When you look balance hives, you see that most of hives in the country have got nothing. It has rained this summer so much. In south and in south - east corner summer has been fine, but very dry.

http://koti.tnnet.fi/web144/vaakapesa/selaa.php?vuosi=2013&kunta=260

ALL

http://koti.tnnet.fi/web144/vaakapesa/selaa.php


When there are a high pressure centre over Russian, the edges rain heavily. It depends where the edge exists
Rains occur in south Europe, UK, Scandinavia etc.
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[user 6228]

That guys who sells Paradise hives, have 3000 hives.
He is engineer and has worked on Neste Oil Refineries in Porvoo before coming a beekeeper.

You derekm, yiou make your decisions without any knowledge. Really bad style.

Neste Oil Stations 20 km from Pradise Honey.

derekm, don't be so sure about your absolute skill.

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Paradise hives yes I've tested their national hive, i'm just about to test their langstroth. I know the heat loss +/- 2%, and I have thermographs for their hives.

I see you continue with the ad hominem logical fallacy, that is really bad style. The laws of physics do not change if you have 3000 hives.

In contrast I do repeatable measurements. I let the physical evidence lead me.
for example:
the degree of warmth of tree nests was a bit of surprise, so was finding that
The TBH tested warmer than I initially expected.

(That is because the top bars are substantially thicker than thin plywood crown boards and i hadnt taken that into account)

 

[user 6228]

Any Poly hive is better for the bees than ANY Wooden hive for keeping bees dry and warm.

The rest is down to the skill of the beekeeper.

My dad always said "it's a poor workman who always blames his tools for a poor job"

Agreed all of the polyhive I have tested perform better than the wooden ones available. Should shome one come out with a wooden hive with 100mm cedar walls it may beat some poly hives.

I'm not a workman in this role but a scientist. I state the findings of the physical evidence, through research, calculation and experiment.

I dont use aphorisms to construct logical fallacies

 

[TryingToLetThemBee]

Do you have an economical source for Kingspan, derekm? It is fiendishly expensive. B+Q have some small sheets for a much lower price per area than the big ones but out of stock all over the place.

 

[alldigging]

Do you have an economical source for Kingspan, derekm? It is fiendishly expensive. B+Q have some small sheets for a much lower price per area than the big ones but out of stock all over the place.

Freecycle.

We got some from a bloke with a huge cellar full of offcuts after doing up his enormously lovely house.

 

[Finman]

I'm not a workman in this role but a scientist. I state the findings of the physical evidence, through research, calculation and experiment.

I

1) you are not a scientist. Scienstists do not waste time on this kind of forum

2) evidence for what? What is your hypothesis and goals?


I have an education of biological reseaching in Helsinki University. It is even better than engineering researching. Just to measure some values is not researching. It is only measuring.

I have earned my money almost 40 years in the the biggest employer of Finland. What I made was that I used my researching skills in different things. I happened to collapsed some big engineer's project just getting information that guys are going to draw cards from sleaves. One was going to be biggest incinerator in Scandinavia.

But it does not come into my mind that I start to waste my money and time with researching general beekeeping. It is too big job to do it as a hobby: several years, sacrifice 20 hives...
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[Finman]

I dont use aphorisms to construct logical fallacies

Yes, it will not save you as a false scientist.

 

[sipa]

Find a company making insulated (wall) panels, they hate paying to dispose of offcuts, that's where I get mine, some of which are quite sizable. And It's all for Free, I use them to make insulating dummy boards, some are thick enough to replace three frames.

 

[TryingToLetThemBee]

Freecycle.

Good idea: thanks

 

[itma]

Do you have an economical source for Kingspan, derekm? It is fiendishly expensive. B+Q have some small sheets for a much lower price per area than the big ones but out of stock all over the place.

You pay for the volume. Thicker sheets are more expensive.

Wickes have Celotex in sheets small enough to fit on a car back seat (1200x450mm) and 50mm thick for under £6
Useful for top insulation.
http://www.wickes.co.uk/invt/190546

Sure free is better, but £6 ain't really "fiendishly expensive".


/// Kingspan, Celotex, Xtratherm, Recticell etc ... just different brands for foil-faced polyurethane foam insulation board ...

 

[TryingToLetThemBee]

Thanks, itma, esp since I am down there at 8am tomorrow. It was more this sort of thing I was referring to http://www.wickes.co.uk/celotex-insulation-board-100mmx1200x24m/invt/161255/ so yours is a great start. Sorry everyone for the hijack.

 

[itma]

Thanks, itma, esp since I am down there at 8am tomorrow. It was more this sort of thing I was referring to http://www.wickes.co.uk/celotex-insulation-board-100mmx1200x24m/invt/161255/ so yours is a great start. Sorry everyone for the hijack.

Yes the bigger, thicker board has more than 10x the weight of material ... and costs 8x as much ... !

 

[Finman]

You pay for the volume. ...

Quality too.

white styrofoam board is light but as thick, and its price is 1/3 of that of blue. Boath are 30 mm. Blue is denser.

Then we have kingspan, which are used in demanding objecst and price is really high. NONE of these materials stand excavations of small ants. They may destroy material in a week. Bees too shew the material in short time.

Waste of time to make own hives from insulation board. Yes, I have made them. So simple..

.

 

[user 6228]

Thanks, itma, esp since I am down there at 8am tomorrow. It was more this sort of thing I was referring to http://www.wickes.co.uk/celotex-insulation-board-100mmx1200x24m/invt/161255/ so yours is a great start. Sorry everyone for the hijack.

I buy mine from Jewsons... The Reticell ally skin is thicker and its more dimensionly stable. You need to buy in quantity to get a good price.
make sure you have a good seal on all cut edges or any damge with tape.
So far where I've paid attention to detail., they have lasted 2 years...
remember in the wild, bees are burrowing insects who clear out the soft rotted wood to form their nests. They cn chew through rubber bands and cling film but a good surface of ally foil stops them.

 

[Finman]

i looked my DIY mating poly nuc. I put inside wall a plex board to protect that bees do not chew the wall.
Well, yesterday I looked the box. Last summer ants made such cavity behind the plex that there is 10 mm hollow cavity of ants. They just love the heat of beehive.

I use mating nucs only month or two per year, and boxes are really in bad condition. But .. it is not so big job to set a new wall.