- Joined
- Oct 19, 2009
- Messages
- 1,479
- Reaction score
- 302
- Location
- Newport, South Wales
- Hive Type
- National
- Number of Hives
- >6
Do people generally stick with the traditional metal roof covers?
I am looking to make some hives over winter ready for the spring and I've sourced everything else but thin metal sheet seems to be difficult for the diyer to obtain at reasonable cost.
I have one experimental hive covered with EPDM flat roofing material. Supposed to last ~50 years on flat roofs. I just laid it on dry with hospital corners and nailed it down. Also thought about using pond liner - obviously 100% waterproof. Only problem I can see is these materials are black so may be heat management issues.
If using metal - what metal? Aluminium/Galvanised Steel/Lead? How thick? Obviously a trade off between toughness and workability. I have found 0.7mm thick Al sheet on the 'net that seems reasonable price (per roof) - but the postage cost is more than the material cost - would that be thick enough/easy enough to work with without having industrial tools?
Comments appreciated ...
Paul
I am looking to make some hives over winter ready for the spring and I've sourced everything else but thin metal sheet seems to be difficult for the diyer to obtain at reasonable cost.
I have one experimental hive covered with EPDM flat roofing material. Supposed to last ~50 years on flat roofs. I just laid it on dry with hospital corners and nailed it down. Also thought about using pond liner - obviously 100% waterproof. Only problem I can see is these materials are black so may be heat management issues.
If using metal - what metal? Aluminium/Galvanised Steel/Lead? How thick? Obviously a trade off between toughness and workability. I have found 0.7mm thick Al sheet on the 'net that seems reasonable price (per roof) - but the postage cost is more than the material cost - would that be thick enough/easy enough to work with without having industrial tools?
Comments appreciated ...
Paul