Shades for beehives on hot roof

Last Thursday I went to Nafco Home Center with Daisuke Yamaguchi (entomology department assistant) and he helped me buy materials to contruct shades for the beehives on the roof of the building. The cement gets very hot and it is difficult for the bees to keep the hives cool in the heat of the summer. The hives get afternoon shade, but I felt that they need all the shade they can get all the time, so decided to build shades for them. The other thing I already did to help cool them down was to place them on the plastic stands to get them up off the concrete. Above are the photographs I took this morning showing the setup of the hives and shades. It looks like they are going to do the job. The frames are metal pipes coated with plastic, and liquid bond was used to seal the parts that needed to be sealed. Zip ties were used to attach the shade fabric to the pipe frames. The fabric is doubled.

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2 Responses to Shades for beehives on hot roof

  1. anwestover says:

    That looks like a sail. I would be concerned that a strong wind could knock the shade down and take the hive with it. If the shade is not secured to the flooring, it should be if possible. You might also consider carving a couple slits/holes in the shade to allow wind to pass through and take the energy out of the “sail.”

    • ljwestover says:

      Yours is a good comment and concern. I also had the same worries when planning and making them, trying to imagine how the wind might affect them. The material is woven and has holes that let both air and some light through. I think it is made for shading plants . Also, there are heavy pieces of cement placed on the legs and front crosspiece of the frames to “secure the legs to the flooring,” so I think they will be all right. If we have a Typhoon, then I will most likely take them down for that and put them back up afterwards, and I will be checking on them frequently and regularly to see if there are any problems, especially on very windy days. Thanks for pointing out those concerns.

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