Typically beehives are made of wood. A beehive weighs about 14 kgs and frequently rots. It also requires repairing every year or so. A new Polyurethane based beehive, developed recently, weighing only 3 kgs, can replace wooden ones and offers the advantages of lower weight, savings in terms of cost of repair and prevents rotting. The low weight also helps in ease of transport and lowers costs.
PU, being an insulating material keeps beehives at a constant temperature and therefore bees do not have to flutter their wings in order to cool hives down in summertime, using this time to produce honey or procreate instead. Beekeepers who have tried these beehives report that the experiments have been verified with good results. Not only did the honey production increase by 50%, but there was also an increase in the number of swarms due to the increase in bee procreation.