2nds quality

[Ian123]

C wynne jones is thornes products

 

[luap321]

C wynne jones is thornes products

and maisemore

 

[Nick Lang]

Had foundation from Maisemore's, Thornes and a few others...never had an issue before...but those I had from Bee Equipment shattered in my hand...they were junk

 

[Ely]

Had foundation from Maisemore's, Thornes and a few others...never had an issue before...but those I had from Bee Equipment shattered in my hand...they were junk

How cold was it?

 

[luap321]

So in conclusion it does not matter where you buy stuff from it may be substandard ,
and it seem we all want stuff cheap and its comes at a cost of quality every now and then
there are duds and i dont think the shops have time to check every pack
so if we want guaranteed top quality pay 2.5 times the price or buy local and see what your getting
all the different suppliers seem nice people and are doing there best to meet our price point
I suppose what matters is how they deal with problems .
I rang the people i got my parts from and said I had the nails missing and that it was not really what i was expecting with the knots in the joints but i would live with it , I said about the rail with the knot 3/4 of the way threw and they said they will get the nails and a rail in the post it cant be easy for them selling stuff other people have packaged and they cant unband every product and check but i feel its good for us to let them know what they are selling because i dont think they want to sell crap just functioning parts a low price

 

[ericbeaumont]

shattered in my hand...they were junk

One year when wax was in short supply I bought from Old Castle Farm Hives, and that was very yellow and shattered even when warm. What would the factory have added that would cause it to shatter? Does paraffin wax shatter?

 

[Ian123]

One year when wax was in short supply I bought from Old Castle Farm Hives, and that was very yellow and shattered even when warm. What would the factory have added that would cause it to shatter? Does paraffin wax shatter?

Pressed or rolled…pressed shatters ….in fairness I thought it was all rolled by the main guys here, possibly imported?

 

[ericbeaumont]

possibly imported

I would assume so. It was too yellow and rubbish.

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

and maisemore

no - Maisemore make their own foundation and boxes

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

C wynne jones is thornes products

but apparently they now make their own 'second quality' hive parts, or they did a couple of years ago.

 

[Erichalfbee]

I’ve had wax from Maisemore Thorne and Kemble. ( oh and one sheet in a frame from Murray)
Never had any problems with any. One year the Thorne wax was grey but the bees didn’t care.
I remember one winter Thorne weren’t posting wax during a particularly cold spell.

 

[luap321]

but apparently they now make their own 'second quality' hive parts, or they did a couple of years ago.

i had stuff from them (2nds) it had green banding on with maisemore written in black

 

[JamezF]

Pressed or rolled…pressed shatters ….in fairness I thought it was all rolled by the main guys here, possibly imported?

I believe "cast" (melted, poured into/onto a mould and allowed to cool with no further treatment) wax can be quite brittle and that rolling plain sheets of cast wax reduces brittleness, but I have no idea why.

I've (unknowingly at the time of order) bought imported foundation before now. At least, I'm as sure as I can be that it was imported, given that it came wrapped in paper with pictogram-style writing on. I can't recall which vendor I bought it from though.

James

 

[JamezF]

I believe "cast" (melted, poured into/onto a mould and allowed to cool with no further treatment) wax can be quite brittle and that rolling plain sheets of cast wax reduces brittleness, but I have no idea why.

My son suggests that the friction involved in rolling the wax raises it to its "glass transition temperature" at which point its crystalline structure changes (going from big crystals to small ones, presumably) meaning that once it cools again it is more malleable. This is only a guess however, based on the behaviour of polymers that he has been studying this year.

James

 

[sarahcorlett2566]

One year when wax was in short supply I bought from Old Castle Farm Hives, and that was very yellow and shattered even when warm. What would the factory have added that would cause it to shatter? Does paraffin wax shatter?

I got foundation from Old Castle Farm Hives and it wasn’t brittle but the way they packed it included a piece of polystyrene underneathwhich wasn’t quite as big as the foundation and as a result, every frame had bent slightly at one end so that there was a crack in every piece and some split completely when I tried (carefully) to get them out. They are usable and I don’t think the bees will mind and probably won’t make any difference to when they build it out. A packaging rather than a product issue here I think. Having said that, foundation is delicate stuff and difficult to ship without some issues. I did message them and they apologised.

 

[Nick Lang]

The wax was warm....they were kept In the house....but as has been said since the foundation was VERY yellow looking ....cheap imported crap I reckon.

 

[W0otz]

The wax was warm....they were kept In the house....but as has been said since the foundation was VERY yellow looking ....cheap imported crap I reckon.

I had some like that, though picked up in a load of second hand equipment so I don't know the original source. I just assumed it was old.
It was annoyingly not quite wide enough either. I had 2-3 sheets that simply crumbled when trying to put them into frames and of the rest quite a lot went into frames with chunks missing or cracked.

The bees took to it well and drew it out quick enough though.

 

[blackcloud]

Only supplier I've had poor quality seconds from thus far is Bee Equipment. When I contacted them they were very good and replaced the dodgy part very quickly.

Those knots are probably fine. I presume you won't disassemble the boxes so might as well glue and nail if you're worried but use an exterior quality glue. Toolstation do a good one.

Ditto
They are a few quid cheaper than msmore but the quality varies wildly.
It's not just knots either -I've had some otherwise perfect supers that were a sneaky 9mm too short and the bees welded the honey frames to the Qxes
If you buy seconds you have to be prepared and equipped for the possibility of some remedial work
It's a great concept -I get cheap gear, and the manufacturer still shifts the stock rather than throwing it away wasting energy and causing further pollution.

 

[Ian123]

It's a great concept -I get cheap gear, and the manufacturer still shifts the stock rather than throwing it away wasting energy and causing further pollution.

There not throwing anything away seconds aren’t made from off cuts or salvaged materials by the main suppliers, they are simply made from a cheaper material..Good value in my opinion and reasonable quality for the price. I certainly wouldn’t pay for firsts. The bees don’t give a flying……

 

[blackcloud]

There not throwing anything away seconds aren’t made from off cuts or salvaged materials by the main suppliers, they are simply made from a cheaper material..

So they select cheaper material for seconds and only do machining f.ups on that?