So I recently purchased an unpainted Abelo poly national. I didn't want the crown board, but if I bought all the other parts separate it would still be £9 more than the full hive as a bundle.
So I decided to save money AND get a crown board to hack to bits. I like the idea of a clear crown board and I have some perspex. The idea of a window set inside a thick poly frame appeals to me, so yesterday I made a start:
I used a stanley knife and a straight piece of perspex (of uniform width) and scored the poly, going deeper each go. As this is dense polystyrene, it's not as messy as cutting up packaging like what you get with a fridge or TV. However, it is still fairly messy. I learned to cut as much as possible and minimise any snapping off. Clean edges are my friend.
This is the point where I got a bit stuck and wasted my perspex. I wanted to get it flush underneath so as to maintain bee space. My efforts failed. super glue didn't work. So now I look to other DIYers here on the forum - how would you get a piece of perspex flush underneath?
I still have some "meat" left on the polystyrene to play with. I'm curious as to what the hard plastic frame looks like but I don't want to trim all the poly off to find it won't work.
I have some silicone and some pink grip - but I am concerned about anything that might affect the bees. This won't be used for a while unless I run into another large colony of bees any time soon so it will have time to off-gas.
Any pointers would be appreciated.
So I decided to save money AND get a crown board to hack to bits. I like the idea of a clear crown board and I have some perspex. The idea of a window set inside a thick poly frame appeals to me, so yesterday I made a start:
I used a stanley knife and a straight piece of perspex (of uniform width) and scored the poly, going deeper each go. As this is dense polystyrene, it's not as messy as cutting up packaging like what you get with a fridge or TV. However, it is still fairly messy. I learned to cut as much as possible and minimise any snapping off. Clean edges are my friend.
This is the point where I got a bit stuck and wasted my perspex. I wanted to get it flush underneath so as to maintain bee space. My efforts failed. super glue didn't work. So now I look to other DIYers here on the forum - how would you get a piece of perspex flush underneath?
I still have some "meat" left on the polystyrene to play with. I'm curious as to what the hard plastic frame looks like but I don't want to trim all the poly off to find it won't work.
I have some silicone and some pink grip - but I am concerned about anything that might affect the bees. This won't be used for a while unless I run into another large colony of bees any time soon so it will have time to off-gas.
Any pointers would be appreciated.
Jazz