New Top for Topsy

We're having our first hard freeze of the winter in Atlanta this weekend. Topsy still has that plastic, wavy top on it that was insufficient insulation in the summer. I know this because comb drawn by the bees fell into the bottom of the hive. This means the hive got too hot. I don't want it to get too cold in the winter and don't trust that top to do the job.

Today at a break I went to my local big box store and bought two 1x12s and had them cut to the right length for the top bar hive, allowing about a 3 1/2 inch over hang on either end. I used the cut off ends of the boards to nail the two boards together and to provide a one inch raise in the top above the top bars. (Well, we all know that a 1x12 isn't really 1x12, so I guess I mean a 3/4" raise above the top bars).  You can see how I nailed it below.



I had a roll of aluminum flashing and covered the top in that (for water protection) and used the staple gun to secure the flashing to the top. It was only 20 inches wide so I had to cut another strip to cover the edge.


When it was covered I folded down the ends and nailed them to the end as well. I'm a little worried about cutting my hand on the cut aluminum edges.



Here's the finished top for Topsy.



Here's a look at the top from underneath:

To protect my hands I covered the rough edges on each end with the all-useful duct tape.

I'm going to the mountains this weekend but when I get home, I'll deliver this better top to Topsy on Sunday.  It won't be there for the freeze this weekend but will be there for the rest of the winter and going into next summer (when hopefully the hive will still be alive).