BeevolutionX insulating cushion 430×500×62 mm - Dadant Blatt & US 10-frame RBC®

01 · WHAT IT DOES

Cuts condensation in winter and sun in summer

In winter the cluster makes heat and vapour; when that vapour meets a cold roof it precipitates in drops onto the colony, and a wet colony spends stores drying itself. With 62 mm of XPS between crown board and roof, the inner face stays warm and the vapour does not condense there. In summer the aluminised face reflects the radiation coming through the metal, which the maker puts at over 85 % in the infrared band, and the roof stops being a hot plate over the nest. One piece for both seasons.

02 · WHAT IT IS AND WHERE IT GOES

Wrapped 100 kg/m³ XPS, on the crown board

The core is extruded polystyrene of 100 kg/m³ according to BeevolutionX: rigid, it takes no water even if the roof condenses, and it does not rot. It is wrapped in the brand’s aluminised polyethylene film, the same as the roll 2774, which protects it from scratches and propolis and adds the radiant barrier; it cleans with a rinse of water. It goes on the crown board, or on the heat-reflective wrap if the hive already runs the RBC system, and under the roof, film up. It measures 430 × 500 for 10-frame Dadant, Blatt or US; for other formats cut XPS to size and wrap it with film from the roll.

03 · THE WARNING

Out during formic acid

Formic acid vapours attack the aluminium of the film: during a treatment with Formic Pro or another formic product, cushion, wrap and any heat-reflective element come out, as the maker asks, and go back once it ends. With oxalic acid, trickled or sublimated, and with Varromed there is no problem. And like any roof insulation it needs an entrance that ventilates: insulating above and sealing below is the recipe for damp.

04 · BEFORE YOU BUY

The cushion is supplied; crown board, wrap and film roll (2774) come separately.