Hi All On the hive construction thread. A useful material is corrugated plastic. Here it is available in varying thicknnesses, bizzarely the thicker are cheaper. The advantages with this are- it insulates. - bees don't seem (touuch corruugated plastic) propolise it or wax it very much. - it is cheap annd easy to work with - it is flexible in one plane and not the other, (useful in lifting whenn stuck a bit) - it is waterprood - it does nnot go mouldy - it is about sixty percent lighter. I have even used it as a temporary lid and found the bees thrived, but I was worried about light getting through maybe decreasing wax productionn. Just my two cents Keep well Garth PS one can often pick up bulk throwaway from display companies. --- Garth Cambray Kamdini Apiaries 15 Park Road Apis melifera capensis Grahamstown 800mm annual precipitation 6139 Eastern Cape South Africa Phone 27-0461-311663 3rd year Biochemistry/Microbiology Rhodes University In general, generalisations are bad. Interests: Flii's and Bees. Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this post in no way reflect those of Rhodes University.