I recently asked if styrofoam hives should be wraped.
It seemed a basic question. I were asnwered a simple
and efficent "no".

But I found in Bee-L archives a post from Llyod Spear
(6 Nov 2002)

>I will add a couple of comments to what has been said
>so far:
>1.  Their added insulating value is of little to no
>benefit.  Wood has an R
>factor of .5 per inch of thickness.  (If that is not
>right, it is very close
>to it.)  So the standard wood hive in the US has an R
>factor of less than 1.
>The hives offered now by Betterbee and Dadant are as
>good as they get, and
>only have an R factor of 3.  While more than 200%
>better than wood, an R
>factor of 3 is nothing of any value in keeping out
>cold or heat.

So I don't understand. Styrofoam hives do not provide
a siginificant insulation improvment compared to wood
hives... But, in opposite to wood hives, there is no
need to wrape them ????

Explanations ?

Hervé
Québec - Canada


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