Talk:3D printed beehives

Concerns:

As a beekeeper who's worked with multiple types of hive, I'm concerned that the Langstroth hive might not be the best model for beginning beekeepers with a dirth of resources and only subsistance-scale requirements. While the Langstroth is excellent for industrial-scale beekeeping, the top-bar hive requires a much lower initial investment, less infrastructural support, and much less brute strength to manage. While printable plastic mitigates the need for industrial supply lines that currently characterizes Langstroth hives, I suspect that top-bar hives still use fewer resources and know that they would still be easier to maintain.

How much does the plastic cost versus local wood?
 * I hadn't thought about that. Local wood could be free, I suppose. You can get 5lb PLA for $60 here = $12/lb = 2.65cent per gram. Density is about 1.3 g/cc. So the price of PLA is 2c per cubic centimeter. Number of cubic centimeters per beehive is a tricky one, I'll get back to it.

How much is heat used in beekeeping (heated knives to open honeycomb) and is it hot enough to warp or destroy the polycaprolactone build material used by RepRap etc.?
 * Not an issue. PLA melts around 180°C (356°F) - your bees would be dead long before you reach that!

Is it possible to build a (heh) honeycomb structure which maintains the outer surface contour of "standard" beehive components, and thus be compatible so beekeepers could mix-and-match printed versus traditional components in their hives? Using a hollow-but-reinforced printed structure could reduce weight while maintaining enough strength. But this requires research. A frame loaded with wax and honey has considerable weight. How much? How strong do the frames need to be to resist the load placed on them?
 * There's a rule of thumb that a full frame weights 5lb. I like the hollow interior idea.

Surfaces: Can RepRap printed objects be sterilized to eliminate bacteria, fungus, etc which attack hives? Do they provide crevices for mites etc?
 * This a problem with wooden hives already. Plastic should have less crevices than wood.

And the big one: will the bees accept the material and build in printed hives?
 * I think we can't know for sure until we try. They do build in styrofoam hives.

Perhaps we'd be better off focusing on 3D/2.5D _routed_ wooden hives. A single CNC router could produce many many hives to be distributed in an area for the cost of the wood/plywood/MDF/OSB/foam material used to make the structures. Wolfrick 13:48, 27 February 2011 (PST)
 * That's a good point. As long as they're cheap it doesn't matter how they're made.

Perhaps a top-bar hive design might be appropriate to consider. They are less complex in design, and less complex to maintain, does not require a centrifugal honey extractor, and requires less heavy lifting to use. This method of beekeeping is also supposed to be healthier for the bees. The downside is a lower yield of honey. See: wikipedia article, biobees --Alex English 00:34, 27 April 2011 (PDT)