Cheap winter wind break...don't laugh too hard

[hollybees]

I built this for a winter wind break and used "shrink-wrap".
I was laughing at myself the whole time I was doing it...hoping no one was watching.





To my suprise it's actually holding up very well!
Had some strong winds...enough to blow a dead oak limb off a tree and through my wife's "New" tonneau cover.
The plastic has stayed taught and we've had temp down to 15 degrees Fahrenheit.

I like the fact that its temporary....anyway for what it's worth thought I'd share it.

[asprince]

That stuff is strong. No laughing here.

What is all that white stuff? :-D

Steve

[bassman1977]

What is all that white stuff?

Cotton ground cover.   :-D

[johnnybigfish]

Shrink wrap huh?
 Thats a GREAT idea!!!!! Looks good too!!! I have a pile of lombs behind my bees but since i started building the piles its settled down now....and looks like a beaver dam!
your friend,
john

[Bee-Bop]

Just wondering;

Looking at the pictures, it appears there is no snow at all within the wrap area and to the front a small bit.

It looks to me like you may me getting a few degrees of heat rise thru it from the sun also.

Bee-Bop

[1of6]

Very smart solution.  I'm eager to see how this does over the winter.  It certainly looks to have promise...

Now...it's all great until your coworkers show up and fill the whole thing with styrofoam peanuts.   ;)

[JP]

Very smart solution.  I'm eager to see how this does over the winter.  It certainly looks to have promise...

Now...it's all great until your coworkers show up and fill the whole thing with styrofoam peanuts.   ;)
[/quote]

Another great idea!


...JP

[BjornBee]

I like it.

I have used posts and thin deer netting in the past for the strawberries, etc. I hear that deer, if they hit something with their nose, will turn around, and not knowing how high it is, will not attempt to jump it. With the 6 foot netting, I get birds, snakes, and other things caught in it. And if it extends to the ground, what a pain to mow or trim around. This shrink-wrap could be a foot or two off the ground and might really be great for deer control. Got me thinking , that's for sure. And at 18" wide and 1500 ft for $16, it would be way cheaper than those deer nets anyways.

I like it...  :-D

Thank you.

[hollybees]

You folks really crack me up LOL.......
I did get the shrink wrap from the shipping dept. at work
just think how well insulated the hives would be if it were full of peanuts!  :-D

I just read that we have a storm coming with "Heavy Snow" 4-6 inches.....yuck!
Better prep the snowblower, that should give it a good test!

I started with some 6' steel fence posts (you know the green stamped kind)
Then bought 8' furring strips and drove screws through the holes in the posts to secure them.
It was a little tricky putting it up because you can only wrap it around the 1st post.
When wrapping it you have to pull it tight, then when I got to the last post I had to tuck it and tape it to the post.
I then took a 2nd furring strip and screwed over top of the one on the last post and that trapped the shrink-wrap.
This is the part that was so laughable.....as you go up it pull's all the posts inward and it loosens the lower wraps.
I mean it looked horrible...just embarrassing.
Not willing to give up I used the ratchet straps.
The straps were like magic!! they allowed me to pull the top corners out and everything got really tight....yeah!!

We have deer problems also I hadn't considered using it for that....what a great Idea!!!
I'll keep you posted....I'm curious about the Idea that it may retain heat.
Oh and John...watch out for those "beavers"....they can be real trouble  ;)

Thanks
Paul

[DayValleyDahlias]

Wow, that is so clever! Way to go...

Also,does anyone here put any type of tent to easy-up over the hives to protect them from rain?

[EasternShore]

For some reason I can't see the pics...boohooo!

[Irwin]

For some reason I can't see the pics...boohooo!

Are you useing imageshack ? I'm having a problem with imageshack.

[Cindi]

I can't see the pictures either, weird eh?  Beautiful, most awesome day, health.  Cindi

[Shawn]

Sounds neat but I cant see them.

[BjornBee]

The pictures were there yesterday. Now, a imageshack icon link comes up, but even after clicking on it, it just says the site can not be accessed.

[Scadsobees]

I can just see, on the first warm day, the whole side of the break will by covered by bees buzzing furiously to get through the plastic!! :roll:

It looks interesting.  One thought: will the plastic degrade in the sunlight/cold?

I've tried something similar on my windows and my kids immediately have finger holes poked in them almost before I leave the room!!

One other thought: you can wrap a car up in that stuff to for a little fun, so they can't get in the doors  :evil:

[EasternShore]

We wrapped a recruit in Bootcamp up in that stuff while he slept off the last day of bootcamp hangover. And NO..we did not cover his face...The look on his face was absolute Terror! Almost pee'd my pants.
On another note..never get caught doing this! The RCPO had me doing jumping jacks for 6 hours....

[mherndon]

If you ever have a warm spell up there those bees will have sore antennas bumping into that stuff.  Ha, Ha.

Mark

[Kathyp]

i can see the pictures on the post but can't enlarge them.  great idea.  keep us posted on how it holds up!

my avatar is gone  :-(

[Shawn]

I can see them now. Looks neat.

[hollybees]

Sorry, you can't see the pics.
I'll try to post them again. i know I set the resolution to what image shack considers "webpage & email"
just haven't had time too.....lately working long hours  :'(
......but here in Michigan we don't complain about having a job these days!

There was one day the bees were out and and I stood behind the plastic. I was pretty funny to watch them fly into it.
They figured it out pretty quick though, I don't think it hurt them and they mostly fly straight out.

[hollybees]

I hope these are better....