Roofs again (sorry!)

[MuswellMetro]

That's a crazy, and possibly brilliant idea! I might buy and handful to try, and if they do not work, ill use them for supers in the car (currently use upturned lids)

yes ,they work well for both

I use them for most of my AS swarm control [two supers as 14x12 plus deep floor]

 

[Little John]

. .

A man of few words ...

 

[theeggman]

Have you thought about offcuts of rubber pond liner?

We use it on our chicken house , wood shed etc. as felt rips off within a year in our standard breeze.

Tim.

 

[itma]

…
I do like the roofs on the Buckfast hives, although I would cover the sloping sides with felt, If only I had the plans or a few photos

So that is where BHS got the idea for their poly roofs … !

 

[Bwthynbach]

Hive roofs

Try Fragile Planet for Aluminium printer sheet, thin but easy to use and light. Watch the sharp edges

 

[REDWOOD]

So that is where BHS got the idea for their poly roofs … !

 

[luckydunny]

Discount

Try Fragile Planet for Aluminium printer sheet, thin but easy to use and light. Watch the sharp edges

Pete if you were a member of your local BKA and the secretary has emailed Fragile Planet to register the association - they give a 10% discount but you have to spend £100 to avoid delivery cost.
However not everyone belongs to an association so possibly irrelevant for you.

 

[user 6228]

Pete if you were a member of your local BKA and the secretary has emailed Fragile Planet to register the association - they give a 10% discount but you have to spend £100 to avoid delivery cost.
However not everyone belongs to an association so possibly irrelevant for you.

if you are going to organise bulk go to a local sheet ally suppllier it will be cheaper

 

[bontbee]

Try Fragile Planet for Aluminium printer sheet, thin but easy to use and light. Watch the sharp edges

I ended up with a plate that had been used to print a flyer for lady boys in Bangkok...lovely looking they are, too.

 

[Dishmop]

Anything thats waterproof.

Celotex cut bigger than the roof so that water drip off away from the hive side.

Shed roofing material.
Rubber door or car mats.
Those big blue heavy duty bin bags.

I've got two nucs sitting under an old caravan window.

 

[Finno]

I use vinyl floor covering. Easily cut and folded and is UV resistant. I have often left smoker on roofs without any damage.

P F

 

[carrodale]

i use sheets of plastic "stockbored" from the local agricultural merchants. its about 15mm deep and makes nice roofs, [ no wood involved just some nasty glue that bonds the plastic] i sandwich a lump of kingspan under the top so it looks quite a monster

 

[chipper]

Have found that thin Aluminium sheets get punctured if you are nt careful where you lay them...
Nowadays, I buy in Roof metals and get my wood from the local recycling center for nigh on nothing...
Slats from beds are ideal....off cuts of ply sheets...and buy a roll of radiator insulation...
I reckon about £12 a roof .

 

[REDWOOD]

I use vinyl floor covering. Easily cut and folded and is UV resistant. I have often left smoker on roofs without any damage.

P F

Now that's a good idea !

 

[Bates]

I use vinyl floor covering. Easily cut and folded and is UV resistant. I have often left smoker on roofs without any damage.

P F

Only problem in a lot of sunlight they eventually will break up.

We use Lithographic sheets as others have said a lot which we buy from a local printer who happens to also be a beekeeper and was ever so happy to help us out. You'll struggle to find any to give away as they weigh them in and ali is worth a bit in scrap value.

If anyone is local to us and needs sheets we have plenty.

 

[martynhyde]

What's wrong with good quality roofing felt,especially the self adhesive kind.Even the unsanded underlay lasts for a good few years.

 

[Hivemaker.]

What's wrong with good quality roofing felt,

Okay if your careful, but does not hold up as well when frequently stacking heavy boxes on the upturned roof in differing terrain, or being slid along the (maybe rough) bed of a truck/trailer, upside down with boxes in when moving hives.

I like steel for a roof covering.

 

[charlievictorbravo]

Caravan Aluminium Roof Covering

Here's my solution to waterproofing the roof. Well, it's more than a roof - it's what some people call a hive cozy, which I use throughout the year - keeps the 14x12 hive warm in the winter and cool in the summer. You'll note that I've flaired the bottom of the aluminium to shed the rain away from the walls as much as possible. The internal dimensions are a theoretical 10mm larger than the hive. Being so deep (300mm) there's no worries about the wind blowing it off.

The roof is 100mm celotex, the sides are 50mm celotex and the whole is covered with Duct tape. The roof is aluminium from the roof of a caravan in the local scrappy. The joints are Gripfill adhesive with bamboo kebab skewers cut in half as dowels.

The costs:- £2.50 tape from Aldi, celotex from skips, aluminium £1 and a bit of expanding foam to fill the space around the aluminium and stick it to the celotex, so the whole thing cost about £4.50 about 5 hours to make after the materials were assembled.

I completed another one today and the only variation was that I substituted aluminium tape for the duct tape because I found the duct tape was uv sensitive and started to fray after about a year - might have been ok if I had painted it.

CVB

 

[Dan Job]

I've made a couple of lids from thick plastic cut from a 200litre barrel and a pallet timber frame. They have a useable depth of about 700mm so you can choose the overhang to shed the water you desire.
A local farmer where my out apiary is, is more than grateful for me to take them away. Have many other uses also, waterbutts, raised planters on the allotment, all sorts.
Previously contained iodene so no nasties!
I know the curved roof isn't everyone's cup of tea because of using it to stand the supers on but the earth around my hives is rarely flat. They can be flattened a little more but they naturally want to retain some shape.
Ask your local dairy farmers I'm sure they're all in the same boat and be glad for you to take them away.
If you can't find any but wanted a couple and are in/passing Bath give me a shout and I'll put a couple to one side.
Dan.

 

[Erichalfbee]

Good job
I would have made the roof much deeper, down to half the depth of the box. It makes sure no rain gets blown up, gives the bees at the top that extra bit of insulation and allows you to put a layer of PIR under the roof without adding a super.