Foam beeves: design features. Foam hives: Design and main characteristics

The science of beekeeping does not stand still, constantly coming up with how to make the life of insects as comfortable as possible, and the work of the butter is convenient and efficient. In search of new solutions were invented by hives from foam. In this article, I would like to tell about the features of these light and warm bees houses.

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Benefits of polystyrene foam structures

Among the advantages of the use of this material as the basis for the construction of the hives, the following can be distinguished:

Small weight saying that such dwellings are easy to transport, and work with them does not require excessive costs of physical labor.
The ability to maintain a comfortable temperature in any season inside the design, in connection with which, in winter, the bee is not flawed, and in hot summer days do not overheat. This characteristic also reduces the cost of the apiary content, because foam flames do not need additional insulation.
Unlike the wooden, the surface of the foam house is solid and smooth, does not have bitch and chips.
All designs have the same size, which makes them interchangeable.
The durability of the dwelling is due to the fact that this material does not absorb moisture, does not rot, it does not breed, it does not die and does not form cracks.
Make a hive of foam with your own hands simple enough. This process will not require any special knowledge and skills from you, just guided by a suitable instruction.
In addition, the finished design is easily understood on fragments, which is important if you decide to move it to a new place or send it to storage.
Repair the hive in need is also quite easy, because all its details are interchangeable.
The low value of the material is another advantage.
Among other things, the white and smooth design looks good from aesthetic point of view.
In this form, the hive does not take rooting various bacteria and fungal pathogens - this means that bees in such a dwelling are less susceptible to diseases.
Rodents and insects are unlikely to want to try to bother the foam - he does not represent any gastronomic interest for them.
This material has a very long service life, it is able to maintain its properties about 50 years.
For the terrain with a hot climate and a large number of medical plants, polystyrene foam hives are the optimal option. In such a design, the pilots can be opened on the entire width to ensure an abundant influx of air with beekeepers.
In the spring, when the individuals are actively developing, the material of the house allows a large number of sunlight to get involved, which cannot be said about the hives from the tree. Good lighting provides the rapid and active development of a young brood.

Disadvantages of dwellings of polystyrene foam

Talking in detail about the merits, it is impossible not to mention the shortcomings of the designs under consideration. Before making foam flaps, you need to take into account the following factors:

Despite the durability of this material, it, however, does not have high strength and is able to break under the influence of physical strength.
If the apiary is located on the territory, blowable by strong winds, beeshores will have to cover heavy items, otherwise the powerful rush will simply turn the hive.
Clean the foam from propolis and carry out disinfection of the structure is quite problematic. For this purpose, neither the soldering lamp, nor the chisel. To solve this issue, you will have to look for information and read the advice of experienced beekeepers.
Another minor minus is that bees can sometimes bother the walls of the structure, if they are not fat.

Features of the construction

As an example, we give a standard beehive consisting of the bottom, 4 housings, roofs and feeders:

The lower part of the structure consists of a bottom equipped with a heater, a network against ticks, liner with a valve, and a pallet with a suitable board.
The mesh from the ticks is made of galvanized metal and has a holes of about 2-3 mm, a low power heater is fixed, a wire from which stretches to a wooden insert. This device is starting to use in the fall, after preparation of bees to wintering. With it, you can maintain the inner temperature of the hive at 2-4 ° C - it helps to reduce the consumption of feed insects, and also contributes to the maintenance of optimal humidity.
The pallet is a structure of tin. Its purpose is to monitor the state of bees in the home, determination of the amount of ticks and mummies of the breakdown, which appear in the disease askosphere. The pallet helps to provide ventilation in the hive during prolonged nomads.
The housing consists of a thickness of 25 to 35 mm thick. On each side there are handles that help to take a design from any position. In front of the hive is present at a diameter of 2.5 cm, equipped with a thin sheet of metal and a plastic turntable.
On the roof of the bee house there is one or more ventilation holes that are born with a metal grid.
The bee feeder takes himself half the hive, it is made of a nomadic mesh 3x3 mm. In the fall and winter, the grid is covered with insulation, which is removed during the nomad.

Foam hives for mobile apiary

Russian manufacturers adopted the experience of creating such structures among countries in which mobile beekeeping is mostly used. Such states include: Canada, America, Belgium, Sweden and Finland. Undoubtedly, use polystyrene foam houses in nomadic apiary is quite convenient, because they have a little weight and are easily transported from place to place. To ensure normal operation, the hives do not need to use several people, one beekeeper can cope with work. At the nomad, there are also its own features: structures have to fasten the belts during transportation, and in windy territories it is necessary to press the roofs with heavy objects.

Hives of polystyrene foam for insect wintering

This accommodation allows wintering in the open air, because no additional insulation is required with ultrasound. Bees well tolerate frosts and are actively preparing for the main health care. In addition, wintering on freedom involves quite early spring flights. However, flaws should be allocated:

Polyfoam is not able to absorb moisture, so condensate is collected on the walls, which subsequently flows at the bottom of the dwelling.
High activity of bees in such structures leads to eating a large number of feed. For example, strong bees use up to 30 kg of honey for the entire winter period. To somehow cope with such a problem, you can provide additional ventilation insect, which will reduce the humidity and temperature inside the house and reduce feed consumption.

The advantages of the hive created by their own hands

Create a design will not be difficult. The drawings found on the Internet will prompt you how to make hives from Feds and Polyfoam, and we will talk about the advantages of homemade beekelons assembly:

Among the main advantages would be to highlight the economics of the design. For example, for the manufacture of hives from plywood and foam, you will need only a few sheets of DVP and a small amount of wooden planks. The cost of such materials will not hit the pocket, while the finished housing for the bees will cost much more expensive.
Anyone is more pleasant to use what he did with his own hands. Practice shows that the service life of homemade structures is higher than purchased, since beekeepers belong to the product of their own work much more careful. Among other things, making something for yourself, do it on conscience, and the knowledge of the design to a millimeter helps not make mistakes during its operation.
Another feature is that constructing the hive, the beekeeper is most optimally adapting it under its apiate. Ensuring the construction with handles, taking weight reduction decisions, clinging under the desired size, the butt makes the hive as possible for himself.
And one more plus is the pleasure of the process and from the result obtained.

Foam hive, video: