Does anyone lay two boards and plywood on their hives for shade from the sun ? The two boards are to hold the plywood off the cover to let air blow though.Good way to cool your hives in the hot sun.Just thinking.
Doesn't sound like a bad idea to me. I don't need it tho, my hives are in shade from the trees in the front yard. :D Even so, it's close to 100F here these last few days, bees bearding out front in evenings pretty thick. That tells me my hives are strong for now. My main hives all have sbb's with no sticky boards so they get more air flow, but my nucs are all solid bottom so I propped up the migratory covers up with a 3/8's stick in the rear. That really helped them out this evening.
Quote from: RayMarler on June 24, 2009, 03:43:39 AM
Doesn't sound like a bad idea to me. I don't need it tho, my hives are in shade from the trees in the front yard. :D Even so, it's close to 100F here these last few days, bees bearding out front in evenings pretty thick. That tells me my hives are strong for now. My main hives all have sbb's with no sticky boards so they get more air flow, but my nucs are all solid bottom so I propped up the migratory covers up with a 3/8's stick in the rear. That really helped them out this evening.
We put plywood on the other day and just today we turned the outer cover front to side and put plywood back on.It has been in the high 90s here now for two weeks.My bees are in tree shade only half the day. We have screen on the inter cover hole,so that will keep the beetles out.
In Texas I can understand the need to think of shading the hives, up here in the PNW we have a need to do the opposite. I'm putting the plywood from the walls of the old too small chicken house I tore down under the hives to keep the weeds down and rise the temperatures around the hives to encourage foraging.
Top on crossways....That may or may not let enough light in for the bees to abscond.
Screen on inner cover will not keep beetles from entering the front entrance, but the shade will cool it enough in the cracks of the wood for them to lay their eggs.
Be aware that SHB like hives that are in the shade much more than hives in full sun.
Wind is my big problem and anything that catches the wind will blow away.
Quote from: Michael Bush on June 28, 2009, 06:31:30 PM
Wind is my big problem and anything that catches the wind will blow away.
Right,we just put a small PC.of plywood a little bigger then the cover ,two times the size,then a cinder block on top as we do on the cover.