Wood is natural and good for bees
Polyhives and plastic frames are
“so bad for the environment”
I’ve heard people say this several times, and I wonder what they mean.
Honey bees may benefit nature. Google this: scholar benefits harm beekeeping.
The harmful contribution of beekeeping hardware is minuscule compared with other aspects of a Western lifestyle. Tackle big sins first.
The total carbon footprint in Kg CO2 eq.
Production of a Beebox hive (9 Kg) = 40
Manufacture of 40 plastic frames = 50
Carbon sequestration
Trees in their first 10 years sequester 2 tons and subsequently 2 to 20 tons per hectare per annum.
Our world view
Cognitive bias: The news is terrible.
Affluent lifestyles have become more common since the 1960s/70s, but we have become more pessimistic or realistic.
Back then, there was no fear of car crashes, so there were no seat belts, and children could do somersaults on the back car seats, all with no worry that lead in petrol was a bad idea.
Now, the manufacture of contraceptive pills results in pollution, and if you make love without them, you may make a baby, and a baby is a cause of great joy and an environmental catastrophe. But life may not be as awful as you think. The book Factfulness demonstrates that most people’s lives are getting better.
Awareness
The other bias (truth) in a beekeeper’s world view is that we are more aware of nature than most people. For example, look at my exciting photo of Ivy. The meaty appearance of the parts due to become seeds.
So, what does “so bad” mean regarding plastic? Worse than bad, very bad or relatively bad? The first two meanings are subjective, but comparing them to other “bad” things like global warming, plastic pollution, and microplastic makes sense.
Global warming is our civilisation’s most significant threat besides nuclear war, so that seems like a great place to start.
It is impossible to suppose that when these delightful creatures are housed in natural materials (or even using plastic) might cause significant harm to the environment. In comparison with driving cars, flying, central heating, food and computers, the cost is minuscule. This video shows how many movements they make in one second.
Some global warming facts
The average sea level will rise by 30 cm by 2030 and possibly one metre by 2050 (recent study, sounds alarmist) due to the melting of the Western Atlantic Ice Shelf (previously considered stable). By 2050-60, perhaps sooner, there will be no ice at the North Pole during the summer. These are inevitable even if we stop emissions today.
The average UK person outputs 5–15 tonnes of CO2 e.g. annually (the weight of more than five small cars). This may be higher than you thought, but recall the periodic table. The molecular weight of an equivalent number of moles of carbon is six and oxygen eight. So, burning 1 kg of carbon produces 3.3 Kg of Carbon dioxide.
To offset one return flight to Hong Kong, (which releases 3.5 tonnes of CO2) you will need to plant 1.75 hectares of trees, 10 years before taking the flight. Calculate the carbon dioxide pollution of your flight
Examples of ANNUAL CO2 Kg equivalents
Wooden hive 0.26
Plastic frames (40) = 2.45
Wooden frames (40) burnt after three years = 7.4
Poly hive = 2.25 (less than 2 litres of cow’s milk)
Red meat/beef 700g monthly = 69
Plastic in a car = 160
Porridge daily, cooked on the hob = 39.5
Manufacture of a car = between 800 and 3400
Fuel for car = 1370
Plastic manufacture and pollution
Polypropylene manufacture causes resource depletion (1.722 kg oil ) and acidification (0.0049 kg SO2 eq./kg-PP). Acidification primarily has local effects (to where it is processed). Sulphates actually reduce global warming, but manufacture produces volatile organic compounds (VOC) that more than offset this. I could list other problems with plastic manufacture, but I don’t understand what they mean, and probably, neither would you.
“Natural” things like beef on the hoof aren’t innocent. Cows don’t just get muddy and burp; their manure and slurry pollutes rivers.
Some plastic I found at home
Wood
So how does wood fare? If we allowed the regrowth of forests at the same rate as we were felling them, wooden hives would be a sustainable product. Unfortunately, man is on the rampage and fells 2.3 million hectares of trees annually in Canada alone.
Loss of trees results in the local climate warming, Then Bark Boring beetle kills swathes of trees. Then, when wood ends its useful life, it rots or burns, releasing climate-warming gases, whereas plastic frames hang around forever!
Off setting / greenwashing
Forestry is good for nature but sequesters paltry amounts of carbon: 2–20 tonnes every year per hectare in the first 20 years. It is an inadequate method of off-setting. It has a miniscule role in us becoming carbon-neutral.
Calculate the carbon dioxide pollution released from an aeroplane flight
Compare these with the impact of our diet
How to reduce the carbon footprint of your food: Watching what you eat is more important than whether it is “local”. Food could be sourced ”locally”. That could mean it is sourced from your local supermarket. Beans with your pub meal may be described as seasonal, but that could imply that they are seasonal in Kenya. Look at OurWorldInData.org for much good news.
Conclusions
If poly hives and plastic frames are so bad for the environment, we must urgently clean up other aspects of our lives.
Whether wood or poly hives cause the least harm to the environment is debatable. My gut feeling is that wood must be best. However, my intuition that manufacturing a paper rather than a plastic bag is more eco-friendly is incorrect. It takes loads of energy to produce paper. My hunch that hand washing the dishes is more eco-friendly than using a washing machine is also incorrect. Whatever, the answer about beehives, there are bigger eco-friendly fish to fry.
Be informed
How Bad are Bananas? The Carbon Footprint of Everything. Mike Berners-Lee
The Ethical consumer here to help us make better choices, if you’ve plenty of time.
How I derived the estimates
I have used figures from Berners-Lee's book “How Bad Are Bananas” and looked online for figures that include indirect emissions. For example, plastic manufacturers may produce 1.6 kg CO2 eq, but if you include the cost of extraction, transport, refining, etc., it is more likely to be between 3– 6 kg. It is difficult to derive precise figures.
A thrifty family roast dinner and a burger, 99/kgCO2/kg. 500g monthly. Burger carbon footprint beef 200 grams. 0.7×99.
Poly hive weight 9 kg (floor, four supers, feeder, roof) 5kgCo2/kg over 20 years =2.25. However, if hives are cleaned in hot water, the CO2 output is much larger. From extrapolating figures on Google, boiling 72 litres to the boil produces 9 kg of CO2. But I heat the water to 64 °C and hold that temperature for at least three hours. So the cost of hot cleaning may be in double figures. Best do cold soaks!
HDPE or polypropylene could create about 5 kg CO2eq/kg (google says 2.9 when incinerated). The weight of a frame is 245g. The lifespan of a plastic frame is 20 years. A hive contains 40 frames. 1.22 per frame x 40 / 20 = 2.44
Wooden frames 150g: 1 kg wood – 0.38 transport, 1.65 Kiln drying, 1.7 kg burning every three years or recycling them involves hot water.
Wooden hive weighing 16 kg = 0.48kgCO2 eq. (increased by a fudge factor for machining, distribution, etc.) to take KgCO2 eq. over 30 years. (16/30) x0.48 (0.38 Kg transport from Western Canada)
Porridge 50g daily = 1.3 kg CO2eq (made with water and a dash of soya drink). Cooking it on the hob is the most significant contribution. It takes a hot water to clean the pan. This estimate feels too high. Cook it in a microwave.
A standard car produces 180g CO2 / mile (including hidden costs), so for 7,600 miles (ca. 12,231 km), it produces 1370 kg, but this would be far greater for an SUV.
Petrol on tarmac - does it matter?
H7
