roof's

[peteinwilts]

Hi Guys

In the forums opinion, what makes the best roof?

The tin roof's I have seen for sale seem to of one size.

Does anyone use felt?

I have read that a layer of polystyrene is good under a roof to help insulate the hive. the tin roofs I have seen does not leave much room for this.

I am thinking about using a peice of polystyrene that is about 25mm thick. I could also put another peice of thinner ply on top to sandwich the poly.

The question is, do I get a larger piece of tin metal made up to cover the lot or go for a nice thick house felt? (or something else!)

I am also using dave cushmans designs. Is it worth filling the outer cavity's of the brood chamber with polystyrene and board up with ply to keep it cosy for winter??

thoughts?
Cheers
Pete

 

[marcros]

I have used felt, but find it difficult to get a good finish on a small item like a hive roof. The felt is just a bit thick to fold neatly. I wouldnt buy a roll especially for the purpose but would probably use what i have, if making a roof, if that makes sense.

I was always told that ventilation is more important than insulation during the winter, so i wouldnt bother with polystyrene.

I made a couple of the American style migratory covers yesterday. Not sure about overwintering with them, although they should be ok, but they are compact and lightweight for moving bees. They are a piece of 12mm exterior ply the width of the hive, which overhangs the front and back the width of a piece of 2 x 1 PSE.

 

[peteinwilts]

what is PSE??

... actually you have given me an idea... I have lots of polycarbonate left over from when I did our porch roof. Lightweight, 8 core (i Think) so good thermally and totaly waterproof

 

[marcros]

Planed square edge timber.

I have wondered about using something like polycarbonate, or even tongue and groved pvc cladding but never quite got around to trying it.

 

[taff..]

this link was posted here last week and makes a very interesting read re ventilation

http://www.dave-cushman.net/bee/ventilation.html

 

[hedgerow pete]

i have used on a hive roof

felt , green mineral, bends easy when very warm to hot,
cotton tarpalin and moulton tar topping
a five gallon plastic and or metal drums, cut the tops off and flatten the sheet
lead sheats i have used 3mm thick and at the moment i am using 1mm thick
copper sheets 0.5mm leave it and it goes green polish it and lacquor it and it stays copper shine beautiful
aliminium sheet 1mm thick fold great but can be hard to get tight
blue plastic sheeting and a stapler
a bin black bag
ply wood and creasote and just normal ply and paint
most of the roofs are stuck using evo stick glue and have lasted for years with lots of abuse and i always have a polystrene sheet in them but on the inside not the out side cut cut it short so the hive still touches the top of the roof
this thing about bee ventulation is a load of crock

marcros is quoting 60 year old folk law and confussing it with dave chusmans site which is 21st century
why worry about ventulation when you have a wire mesh floor at the bottom of the hiveis not 1000 holes not enough?????????????

when we used all wooden floors and could in theroy seal a hive up to the point of it being only vented from the enterance block itsself and durring the winter when it was to cold for the bees to actualy ventulate the hive themselves by fanning the moisture content of the hive would increase to the point of dieases and fungi to start killing the food and bees off,

i know you are all learning evan after 22 years i still learn something every time i open a hive but please stop ,writting dribble and mixing up hearsay and 60 yearold witch craft with common sense and modern practeses, verroa floors are normal solid are not please go a research the type of hive you are using and learn its pluses and negatives they all have them,

but apart from my rantings that should help with the quiree

 

[marcros]

i know you are all learning evan after 22 years i still learn something every time i open a hive but please stop ,writting dribble and mixing up hearsay and 60 yearold witch craft with common sense and modern practeses, verroa floors are normal solid are not please go a research the type of hive you are using and learn its pluses and negatives they all have them,

but apart from my rantings that should help with the quiree

I am actually using solid floors, so I stand by my statement. Whichever way you look at it, whether ventilated is provided from above or below it is still more important than insulation.

 

[hedgerow pete]

ventalation is easy all you have to do is have a hole at the bottom and at the top of the hive the air will flow through via laws of convection the trick to to know how much to leave open summertime as much as you like and winter around the 25 to 50mm diameter hole, and as for insulation yes to the top of the hive and sides only if its about to go cold for a long or hard time

and can i point out that you have not bothered to correctly inform me of your situation if you cant be bothered to fill the main hive type of your personal details then expect people like me to look sideways and belive that we are talking to such a newbe that he has NO HIVES listed and as such does not know what he has to buy or to build, information is power and thats the great thing about this web forum if you dont want to bother telling us what your getting up to except people to jump to conclusions and by the way it is not a personal rant at you its to very one who does not update regulary.

 

[hedgerow pete]

now rant over peteinwilts was talking about roof/rooves i personaly would go for the 150mm deep roof if you are using nationals etc in that way we can have a 12mm thick ply top with a 25mm stryne sheet inside going to the sides then if you want we can drill a 30mm diameter hole in the centre of each side just abouve where the batton will when sit for the roof onto the brood /super top edge, i have allways found that in halfords you can buy a allimum mesh sheet they use it for car body repairs the holes are around a couple of mill wide i use staple to hole it to the out side face or the inside its upto you but if its on the outside we can fill the inside timber hole with a plug to restrick air flow or to increase, i would always have the wind side blocked off but the opposite side completely open, as for the roof materials what have you to hand from either my list above or the internet lists, if you let us know what you could use we could try and tell you the easist ways of working it

 

[peteinwilts]

I may have gone overboard on the ventilation on the roof, although it is nothing I can't block up!!

I will have a play with 5 wall polycarbonate tonight. Sticking it on ply will be easy and still have all the end caps and water run offs.... my porch does not leak!

I personally would be worried using copper. Not sure about bees, but most invertibrates have a severe intollerance to copper.
Don't think i'd want to risk it, but I bet it looked real pretty!

 

[hedgerow pete]

i will take a few photos for you, the other ideas are fibre glass the top and sides . pool pond liner you can use anything as a temperary measure and always redo it later

 

[rowbow]

roof covering

I built my roofs with a pitch to make my nationals look good in the garden, they are vented in the sofit at the ridge, the covering is pond liner fixed with contact adhesive, I find that if the dimensions are correct you can fit 2 Ltr feeder under neath, insulation on cover board, space age quilt with summer winter orientation.
John

 

[ENZO]

For roof coverings I use the alluminium lining from the inside of old chest freezers, bends and cuts easily, looks good and professional. To top it up, it's usally free, just cut it out with a pair of tin snips or a sharp stanley.

As to insulated roofs, I put 40 or 50mm of Kingspan insulation the one with the silver foil top and bottom, built inside the roof so I make up the roof as normal, vents inside and blocked off, a good fit of Kingspan inside then a 6mm sheet of ply to keep it all sandwiched together. from the outside it looks like a normal roof but it's fully insulated and of course, I use a mesh floor with it, works well for me and I never get mouldy combs.

Enzo