I don't think it matters much if the extra insulation is on the outside of
the hive as long as -
- it does not get soggy with rain. I think some woods can become saturated
with water / rain and then conduct heat better than when dry. Cedar is a
good dry wood partly because of its "closed cell" microstructure.
- Contrariwise, if it is completely impermeable to water / humidity there
needs to be a slight gap between the wooden hive walls and the outer layer,
so any condensation can dissipate rather than encourage mould. Consider how
sticky you get if you wear a sou'wester or bin liner next to your skin.
That's why the Bee Cosy uses semipermeable membranes.
- if plastic like polystyrene or celotex is used, it is on the outside.
One year I had a colony in a temporary nuc box with thin walls which
refused to grow down into a nice insulated Warre. I simply duct-taped slabs
of polystyrene to the outer walls for winter. It was comically ugly, but
they survived winter.
Paul
On Sun, 26 Aug 2018, 21:09 chris pym, <dmarc-noreply@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Will, I’ve used 2” Celotex offcuts, sandwiched between two layers of
recycled half inch pine, painted with good outdoor gloss on my last three
home-made hives. 3” Celotex in the apex roofs. I tried to post pics of them
last year but I think the files were too big. But I now have pdf versions
if you’re interested.
Cheers,
Chris Pym
*From:* Will H
*Sent:* Sunday, August 26, 2018 3:26 PM
*To:* oxnatbees@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
*Subject:* [oxnatbees] insulation materials and methods
I'd like to try insulating at least one of my hives this winter. I would
appreciate your suggestions about what to use and how to apply it.
My assumption is that I take some sheet material and attach it to the
outside of the hive using straps or similar.
Materials:
- Wood as board or ply
- Wood as WBC style lifts
- Cork as floor tiles
- Celotex <https://www.celotex.co.uk/products> expanded foam sheet
- Bee Cosy <http://beecosy.com/purchase/> style synthetic material
and/or Gore-Tex
- something else
I don't favour wood. Very few woods are durable enough and they tend to be
expensive. The weatherproof ply which I've used didn't last lnog either.
Celotex will work and it's easy enough to get hold of. It probably does
give off chemical vapours but they'll be outside the hive. Cork may also
give off vapour from glue but it's much more sustainable than Celotex. I'm
interested in whether it's possible to make an insulated cover. I'm looking
at materials which follow the design used by the Bee Cosy.
Does anyone know of a good supplier of cork floor tiles? The width needs
to be at least 462mm (18.25") on one side. I've found an interesting
supplier <https://spduk.co.uk/t/cork-sheets> but I don't know whether
tiles are weatherproof.
Has anyone tried or seen a trial of the fabric cover?
Has anyone tried or seen a trial of Celotex?
Any other ideas?
Thanks
Will
