Why do you need a canvas in a hive

The ceiling in the bee house is an indispensable structural element that helps maintain the microclimate and health of the nest. Therefore, the canvas for the hive and the material from which it is made must comply with sanitary standards.

The content of the article

  • 1 Role in the hive
  • 2 Variety of materials
  • 3 Practical application
    • 3.1 Sackcloth
    • 3.2 Cotton
    • 3.3 Kumach or silk
    • 3.4 Polyethylene and polypropylene bags
      • 3.4.1 Pros of using
    • 3.5 Wind-moisture protective film
    • 3.6 Cotton tarpaulin
      • 3.6.1 Do i need a pillow
  • 4 About sizes
  • 5 Manufacture by own hands
  • 6 Tips for using

Role in the hive

The very definition of “canvas” came to us from the traditions of Russian beekeeping – beekeepers covered the frames with linen fabric made from linen threads by domestic craftswomen. The second old name is the position (from the words “canopy” and “put”).

Nevertheless, the question of what to make canvas for beehives these days cannot be answered unequivocally. Linen canvas is a rarity in modern beekeeping.

Although the canvas continues to play the same role – it protects the space of the hive, serving as a ceiling, it can be made from a wide variety of materials. And the choice of a suitable fabric is now very diverse. The most modern building materials such as polyethylene are also used.

An analogue of laps is the well-known ceilings. The boards can be installed on the folds one at a time or be assembled into shields with bar handles in the upper part. The latter option is more convenient for the beekeeper.

But more often the ceiling is assembled from separate boards, which are not very convenient to use during inspections. Therefore, preference is given to fabric supports that can be turned to the desired width. A warming mattress is placed on top of the fabric layer for the winter.

Variety of materials

in the hive

The choice of a suitable material for laps is one of the controversial points, since beekeepers are guided by their own experience. As a result, there is no consensus on this issue and cannot be.

Hive canvases do:

  • from burlap;
  • from cotton tarpaulin;
  • made of polyethylene;
  • from cotton canvases purchased from artist stores;
  • from linen tablecloths;
  • from old cotton sheets;
  • from polypropylene bags for flour and sugar;
  • from fabrics used for awnings, sports bags, soldier’s tents;
  • from wind and moisture protective films;
  • and even from Soviet kumach silk.

Moreover, each of the materials has its own drawbacks – it is difficult to make an ideal choice.

Practical application

According to the recommendations of many beekeeping encyclopedias and textbooks, a do-it-yourself hive canvas is made of burlap.

Sackcloth

sackcloth

In practice, however, this material brings too much debris into the hives. Bees freely crawl through the fabric – it has a large weave, gnaw at the threads. Pieces of burlap appear on the frames, which have to be removed. Often, adult bees get entangled in strings and die.

At the same time, the fabric “breathes” well, it costs a penny – it can be used without any problems as an economical option for making a pad.

Cotton

Cotton, for example from old sheets, is generally a free thing. It absorbs moisture well, “breathes”, is easy to handle when sewing – the sections can be cut on a sewing machine with a regular needle.

But with improperly organized ventilation, the cotton fabric quickly becomes wet and aggravates the dysfunction of the bee colony.

Kumach or silk

Old curtains or tablecloths made of kumach show themselves well in use. Silk “breathes”, but at the same time it does not damp or mold.

The main difficulty lies in the fact that such fabric cannot be bought in modern stores, and high-quality natural silk is too expensive. Lucky only those beekeepers who had red salmon in old stocks from Soviet times.

Polyethylene and polypropylene bags

polyethylene

Polyethylene is a cheap and easy-to-use material. It can be cut without regret by installing feeders, or replaced as soon as necessary.

But it has one significant drawback – the film does not “breathe”! It warms the nest, causing unnatural activity of insects – the bees make a lot of noise when placing the hives in omshanik, even if the film is bent from the side. It becomes damp in the nest, especially if there is an error in ventilation. And an increase in air humidity leads to large losses of heat (anyone knows that it is cooler in a damp room than in a dry one at the same temperature).

The results of wintering under the film can be seen in photographs distributed on the Internet. There is ice on the sides of the nest, frost lies on the frames in the corners, and traces of dampness are visible on the walls. So is it worth choosing polyethylene, installing it in bee dwellings for the whole winter?

polyethylene in the hive

The main argument of the proponents of the film is to protect the bees from thirst in the spring. Condensation forms on the polyethylene from the inside, which is licked by working insects and used to water the brood.

Experienced beekeepers install the film already in the spring. After all, dryness in the hive is the standard of high-quality wintering and guaranteed protection against mold, ascospherosis, and ticks.

What is used to make bee pads is an important factor in the modern keeping of bees. You cannot thoughtlessly chase after newfangled materials, focusing exclusively on the convenience of the beekeeper himself! This approach can be harmful. A vivid example of this is wintering under a film.

In fairness, it should be noted that polypropylene sacking “breathes” better due to the interweaving of synthetic fibers in an artificial canvas.

polypropylene

From one such bag, four bags are obtained, costing only 5 rubles apiece.

Pros of using

In the spring, a film pad can be a good help.

The thickness of this material allows it to be easily inserted into the spaces between the housings. The film is compactly placed in the folds, in contrast to the fabric covered with propolis, and does not interfere with the correct setting of the body sections. This helps to avoid hypothermia of the nests during the spring expansion.

With the help of polyethylene, you can partially or completely divide the nest. The passage to the upper body to the required width is limited by folding the stem.

There are also quite original ways of application. For example, thief bees that have climbed into storage from the beehives with pumped out frames can be removed with a film. For this, a hole is closed through which the insects made their way to the frames. The cover of the hive is removed, and polyethylene is spread over the body. As soon as the bees flock to the light, they are released into the wild.

Wind-moisture protective film

waterproof film

The building film used in roofing (Ondutis A120 from Onduline) is free from the main disadvantage of polyethylene. She “breathes”, releasing moisture from the bee’s nest outside.

During operation, the sections of the workpiece do not crumble – they do not need to be processed when cutting out laps. The material is not afraid of moisture and exposure to sunlight, does not let moisture and wind into the house. The edges of the pad can protrude beyond the dimensions of the hive, hanging down along the edges.

In practice, such a film serves for at least 4-5 years, without losing its appearance and its basic properties. The bees do not gnaw the material and hardly cover it with propolis (as unnecessary, there is no draft).

windproof film in the hive

Ondutis A120 is realized in rolls with a width of 1,5 meters. The price for one running meter is 35 rubles. From a piece of 1,2 by 1,5 m, four positions are obtained, measuring 75 by 60 cm.On average, 10 rubles per one canvas, which is 5-6 times cheaper than purchasing natural fabric.

In the hives, the film is spread with the smooth side out! After winter, the nests remain dry. However, there may be slight condensation under the lid – this is normal.

When wintering on the street, the frost that has accumulated under the lid, melting from warming, does not lead to wetting of the substrate – the material does not allow water to pass through! When viewed, the lap rises with a tilt to the side – the accumulated moisture is poured out of the hive.

water resistance

From Ondutis A120 you can sew pillowcases for insulating pillows, if they are used in the apiary.

Such a film instead of a canvas in the hive complicates the work a little. During examinations, you will need a brush made of soft natural bristles to sweep away insects. Bees willingly hatch the bed from the inside, especially if candi is fed in winter.

Cotton tarpaulin

Cotton tarpaulin is one of the most practical materials – it “breathes” even when covered with propolis from the inside, resistant to stress and environmental influences. At the same time, it is quite dense – using a tarpaulin, you can refuse a warming cushion, especially when hives are hibernating in Omshanik.

propolis on the shelf

By the way, insulation is another sore subject for beekeepers. The most heated debate is also going on about it.

Do i need a pillow

Many experienced beekeepers believe that a warming pillow is a kind of “dancing with a tambourine”. Bees do not heat the entire space of the hive in winter. Maintaining the required temperature inside the club, they simply do not need additional heating (provided that the walls of the dwelling are sufficiently thick and there are no drafts!).

By installing the pillow, the apiary owner creates greenhouse conditions for his pets – he transfers building codes for residential buildings to bee hives, which is not entirely correct. After all, the increase in the amount of brood in the spring does not come from additional heat. It is mainly due to the strength of the bee colony itself – as much as it can afford to warm and feed the young, the uterus will lay eggs.

This can be easily verified by comparing two families of the same strength, one of which will be insulated with a pillow, and the other will winter without it. In spring, the nests will have the same amount of brood at the same time!

Another important point is the presence of upper ventilation. Many breeds of bees are sensitive to it.

If you make ventilation slots in the canvas and send the bees into the winter, they will not cover the holes with propolis. The upper ventilation of the nest is a natural state dictated by nature. Through it, spoiled air and excess moisture are removed.

Putting your pillow on top of the lap can create mildew! As you know, dampness is the cause of the weakening of bees and even their death.

To read:

How to deal with mold in hives after winter

About sizes

hollows

The sizes of the pads are selected taking into account the internal dimensions of the hive. The fabric or film should completely overlap the frame gaps, and lay in slices on the edges of the case and at the same time not stick out.

The following sizes are on sale:

  • 54 x 54 cm – for 12-frame hives;
  • 50 to 70 cm;
  • 50 on 50 see

The price of a product is determined by the material from which it is sewn. Cotton fabric – 60-70 rubles. Tarpaulin – 150-170 rubles apiece.

Manufacturers give a recommendation for the annual replacement of the pads, for some reason forgetting that they can be disinfected through boiling (if the materials are completely natural, as advertised). Team . believes that such an approach as a consumable is justified only in relation to polyethylene films.

Manufacture by own hands

two-layer pad

The original two-layer pads are made as follows (idea by Sergey Rusin):

  1. A window nylon mesh with a cell of 2 by 2 millimeters is taken (the size is not so important, the main thing here is that the mesh is present, and bees do not pass through it!). It can be purchased from PVC window manufacturers. The material is sold in rolls 1,5-1,6 wide and 30 meters long. One roll makes 150 laps (the width of the mesh is cut into three parts).
  2. The bottom layer of the canvas is made of mesh, and the top is always fabric! It is important that the finished product does not go beyond the dimensions of the case, and the fabric does not get wet from the rains.
  3. The mesh is applied to the fabric, after which the product is sewn on a sewing machine around the entire perimeter. Or the sections of the parts are fastened with a stationery stapler – metal brackets are driven in a circle at a distance of 8-10 cm from each other.

The net here serves as a kind of protection – bees do not gnaw through the tissue during the operation of the bed. In addition, the net is a good base for propolis – in the hive it is generously covered with bee glue. After that, the parts (fabric and mesh) are glued together and become a single whole.

Instead of natural fabric, you can take elastic fabric for greenhouses in black, which is not afraid of weathering (the edges of the laps can stick out between the hive bodies). It is artificial, but better than polyethylene in quality.

It is noteworthy that there are bee breeds that prefer the blank surface of the ceiling. For example, the Central Russian breed is very careful about laps – there will not be a single gnawed hole on their surface, and all existing damage will be covered with wax and propolis.

Tips for using

In order for the fabric to allow air to pass through better, the laps must be boiled in the fall. This manipulation solves two issues at once: the propolis particles that clog the gaps between the threads are removed, and disinfection is performed. After heat treatment, the plates are well dried in the sun.

Important: The scrims deprive the bees of the space above the frame, which is essential for life! Therefore, in order to give them the opportunity to move freely between the streets, across the frames, it is necessary to lay bars with a cross section of 1,5 by 1,5 centimeters. And only after that, spread the fabric or polyethylene.

The plastic wrap allows you to collect large quantities of propolis. It is clean – does not contain impurities, and can be easily removed from the film. It makes sense to choose this material if the apiary is focused on the sale of propolis or the manufacture of drugs from it. But at the same time, the beekeeper should not forget about high-quality ventilation of the hives!

And in conclusion, I would like to emphasize once again – a correctly chosen lap should help maintain warmth and dryness in the hive: it simultaneously increases thermal insulation, making the nest inaccessible to moisture and drafts. And greenhouse heat combined with dampness is a wake-up call for any sane beekeeper!

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Anna Evans

Author ✓ Farmer

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