Wrapping Hive with Black Tyvek

[RBlakes100]

Does anyone have experience wrapping their hives with black Tyvek?

It is used as a house wrap in the US and it is usually white. I managed to locate a black Tyvek that is used for picture frames in lieu of kraft paper. Those of us who live in windy, cold, rainy, and snowy areas need black for solar gain on sunny days in the winter.

Tyvek has a few important elements: waterproof, tear resistant, breathable, and hopefully, wind resistant. I usually use black tar paper, but it does not breathe like Tyvek and sometimes it rips.

I covered a few Langstroth hives with it today and will experiment to see if it keeps the bees warmer and prevents moisture buildup inside.

Many thanks.

RBlakes

 

[Gilberdyke John]

Does anyone have experience wrapping their hives with black Tyvek?

It is used as a house wrap in the US and it is usually white. I managed to locate a black Tyvek that is used for picture frames in lieu of kraft paper. Those of us who live in windy, cold, rainy, and snowy areas need black for solar gain on sunny days in the winter.

Tyvek has a few important elements: waterproof, tear resistant, breathable, and hopefully, wind resistant. I usually use black tar paper, but it does not breathe like Tyvek and sometimes it rips.

I covered a few Langstroth hives with it today and will experiment to see if it keeps the bees warmer and prevents moisture buildup inside.

Many thanks.

RBlakes

Can't comment on using tyvek but I do use hive cosies made out of foil faced insulation board. Trade names in England are Kingspan and Celotex. Try the search function of this forum for further information.

 

[MartinL]

Don't forget that what you gain in daylight you'll lose when the sun goes down!
we're past the equinox, going into winter so nights are longer than the days???

 

[bontbee]

Michael Palmer (on this forum) might be better placed to advise - he's a bit north of you...

 

[pargyle]

Welcome to the forum - you will find a lot in common with UK beekeepers and quite a few differences.

Tarred paper has been/is used in the USA regularly - in the UK we never seemed to follow this path. Over here there are two schools of thought those who insulate and those who don't.

The majority of those who insulate tend to use this stuff:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polyisocyanurate

Again, there are two schools of thought - those who make 'hive cosies' that cover the whole hive and those who just put a slab or two on top of the crown board under the roof.

For my money - anything that makes the hive draught proof and creates an environment that the bees can manage in the way they want it has to be a benefit - whatever materials you use.

There are lots of threads on 'Hive insulation' on here if you put that into the search function - views on either side of the debate will give you something to think about.

 

[For want of a better word]

Cousin Geoff in Canada says that any change you make to appearance of hives will bring the bears in to take a look... which generally meant having to reinstall the bear proof fences!
Black tarred paper was particularly attractive to the bear population as they have an incredible sence of smell 10000 times better than a dog.

Geoff moves his colonies into his unheated cellar for the winter.

So my guess is if you have bears.. keep the hives looking the same and check your fences.

Yeghes da

 

[pargyle]

Cousin Geoff in Canada says that any change you make to appearance of hives will bring the bears in to take a look... which generally meant having to reinstall the bear proof fences!
Black tarred paper was particularly attractive to the bear population as they have an incredible sence of smell 10000 times better than a dog.

Geoff moves his colonies into his unheated cellar for the winter.

So my guess is if you have bears.. keep the hives looking the same and check your fences.

Yeghes da

There are ONLY black bears in New York State - and these hibernate over winter for about five months so the OP would be very unlucky to have a bear attack his hives mid winter !!

There's about 6 to 8000 of them but they are mainly confined to the remoter rural areas ~ although some do venture into more urbanised locations occasionally. Our American cousins are very fond of killing them for sport unfortunately - not a protected species.

 

[Hivemaker.]

So my guess is if you have bears.. keep the hives looking the same and check your fences.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jbghLx-yh44

 

[alfazer]

House wrapping is not that common in UK because most houses are brick construction, but Tyvek is available ok, just never seen it in black. Tyvek is most commonly used here as medical packaging and disposable overalls/cleanroom wear.
We have a black fabric that is a little similar and is used under roof slate or tile in modern homes, traditionally where felt was used.
I can't recall the tradename but it has similar qualities to Tyvek; waterproof, but breathable.
It would sound like a good idea for a hive and sun absorption.

 

[Webby]

Tyvek would be a pretty good material to use I would think. In the uk it's white on one side and black on the other.

 

[Gaz1]

Tyvek is a brand name of a breathable membrane. It is used on roofs and is also used to wrap timber frame building (most of US) and most if not all housing estates in the U.K. are timber frame faced in brick/block these days.It's highly resistant to water so can't see a problem on the walls of a hive. But having standing water on a flat service it may fail in the the end.

 

[For want of a better word]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jbghLx-yh44

Hmmmmm..... was that before or after the bears long winter sleep?

Makes my badger attack look a bit feeble!!!

Yeghes da

 

[REDWOOD]

Welcome to the forum - you will find a lot in common with UK beekeepers and quite a few differences.

Tarred paper has been/is used in the USA regularly - in the UK we never seemed to follow this path. Over here there are two schools of thought those who insulate and those who don't.

The majority of those who insulate tend to use this stuff:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polyisocyanurate

Again, there are two schools of thought - those who make 'hive cosies' that cover the whole hive and those who just put a slab or two on top of the crown board under the roof.

For my money - anything that makes the hive draught proof and creates an environment that the bees can manage in the way they want it has to be a benefit - whatever materials you use.

There are lots of threads on 'Hive insulation' on here if you put that into the search function - views on either side of the debate will give you something to think about.

I think you will find it's four schools of thought, none some lots and obsessive [emoji846]


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[jenkinsbrynmair]

I think you will find it's four schools of thought, none some lots and obsessive [emoji846]


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[mbc]

I think you will find it's four schools of thought, none some lots and obsessive [emoji846]/QUOTE]

Lol. Spot on!

 

[BeeJayBee]

I think you will find it's four schools of thought, none some lots and obsessive [emoji846]

Wot! No matchsticks??

 

[REDWOOD]

Yes you're right. That's -1


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[pargyle]

I think you will find it's four schools of thought, none some lots and obsessive [emoji846]


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