Abelo 12 frame hive issue

[ali.m.1]

Hi
Thanks for the interesting thread.
After some advice on smoking, I realised that my original problem of killing lots of bees within the rebates was purely down to having a bad smoker setup.
I’ve since sorted my smoker (the false floor had popped down to the bottom, meaning there was no airspace below the chamber), and now know how to properly light and fuel it- the problem of killing bees has completely gone away.
Although my colony has grown since the original post, now that I’m using smoke properly, the bees do not get in the way at all.
I’m glad I don’t need to sell my hive after all!

Regarding the issue of compatibility- I had my 2x poly 12 frame supers on, and I needed a 3rd super (due to OSR flow atm). I just stuck a wooden super national on top, and used a Queen excluder below the wooden national, to maintain the bee space (since the 12 frame is top space, and the std national is bottom space).

So in conclusion, I’m still content with my (slightly expensive) abelo 12 frame purchase!

 

[Rory Fields]

Hi
Thanks for the interesting thread.
After some advice on smoking, I realised that my original problem of killing lots of bees within the rebates was purely down to having a bad smoker setup.
I’ve since sorted my smoker (the false floor had popped down to the bottom, meaning there was no airspace below the chamber), and now know how to properly light and fuel it- the problem of killing bees has completely gone away.
Although my colony has grown since the original post, now that I’m using smoke properly, the bees do not get in the way at all.
I’m glad I don’t need to sell my hive after all!

Regarding the issue of compatibility- I had my 2x poly 12 frame supers on, and I needed a 3rd super (due to OSR flow atm). I just stuck a wooden super national on top, and used a Queen excluder below the wooden national, to maintain the bee space (since the 12 frame is top space, and the std national is bottom space).

So in conclusion, I’m still content with my (slightly expensive) abelo 12 frame purchase!

I'm glad you've resolved the issue, I think they're head and shoulders above any other hive in the market tbh. Considering Maisemore used to sell a hive with 2 supers for £70 when I started, and have made no new iterations to their design, whilst having far less robust polystyrene and are now selking atca not dissimilar price point, I think theyre value for money, in a market where everything is incredibly inflated currently. Certainly the yield, build up and ease for my back and for shutting in and moving etc - love cedar too, but would keep 12 frame Abelo's exclusively if I'd the money and will definitely add yo my 30 + of them as monies allow

 

[lindsay s]

I have an orange-ish one as well. I have been absent for a while, more to follow.

 

[lindsay s]

This apiary is in and unused garden beside a busy lane in the centre of town. It’s sheltered, a sun trap and l have been given the use of it for a small honey rent. Passers by sometimes stop at the gate to ask me about the bees so I decided to throw in an orange hive to brighten things up.
This is my third year with the Abelo 12 frame poly hives and I still have Smiths.

A good reply to my question and using one format is what we impress on the new starts up here.
I’ve only ran cedar Smith hives until now but I’ve been impressed with how well my bees are doing in my poly nucs so I decided to take a punt on the Abelo 12 frame poly hives because I couldn’t find any poly Smith’s. I was actually looking for a smoker on the Abelo site when I came across their hives! Yes I’m disappointed with the queen excluders and the locking boxes are a pain in the when it comes to separating full supers. I also think the rebates are meant for keeping the rain out as well as stability.
My Smith frames are interchangeable with the Abelo hives and I will stick with the short top bars as I intend to run both side by side for a few years and I’ll have plenty of kit for both. My harvest this year has more than paid for the Abelo’s so if things don’t work out it will be no loss to me.
The price of the hives at the moment might tempt a few new starters and this is on their website.
“We will continue to manufacture all poly hive variants to ensure we provide beekeeping systems to suit all styles and management methods.”
So hopefully the format should be available for some time.

Above were my thoughts on the hives in 2021 and they haven’t changed much since then. I have added strips of wood to both the frame runners to keep my short top bars in place and create a good fit for the Q excluders. Having spent 90% of my beekeeping using wooden framed Queen excluders I still hate the flat fitting ones. But I have now mastered the art of fitting the excluders without smoking the bees to death and keeping crushing to a minimum. First I place a cover cloth over the brood box and after a minute or so I give a gentle puff of smoke under both sides of the cloth before removing it. I find that nearly all the bees will be between the frames so I then quickly fit the Q excluder.
Having been used with 11 framed Smiths I now have the same number in my Abelos because it gives me extra wiggle room.
One last observation is that the Abelo poly is very brittle as I found out the hard way! Normally I get help when I’m shifting hives but a few weeks ago when carrying a hive full of bees along a grassy path I tripped and fell over. Both the brood and the super boxes split open and I had hundreds of angry bees buzzing around me! After lots of swearing I patched up the hive with tape and eventually moved it to its new location. A check the next day revealed the Queen was OK so I got away with that one. Not quite the biggest disaster l’ve had this season so watch this space.

 

[Garry R]

Whether your apiary holds 2 or 22 colonies uniform equipment will lead to smoother working, less stress, greater management fluidity & compatibility and a whole lot more pleasure.

The 12-frame is a way for a business to spread their bets in a niche market and is common practice. For example, if you grew tomatoes and sold only tomatoes you would probably end the week with unsold stock that would rot or cost you to store. The way to maximise return, to make best use of stock, is to diversify and make tomato puree, tinned tomatoes, tomato juice, tomato soup and so on.

I doubt beekeepers asked Abelo to make a hive with one extra frame that had a different footprint to standard BS National, and in which 11-frame wooden boxes without lip rebates would not match 12-frame boxes with rebates.

Ask yourself: what good is one more frame? If the colony needs space, give it a box!

You may see beekeepers using the 12-frame hive and if you're a beginner starting from scratch then go ahead, buy into it (hello, Ian!) but be aware that you are now locked into that manufacturer, the price they choose to charge, and the length of production or time they stay in business.

For these reasons the 460mm square Modified National, specified first to a British Standard in 1946, is the closest we have to a universal British hive system, and the 11-frame Abelo National is the Rolls-Royce of poly National boxes because it is compatible equally with the National cedar box made by EH Taylor 74 years ago, or with a National box made last week from pallet wood to plans on Dave Cushman's A-Z by Sarfraz at number 47, Glyn Road, Barking.

I would encourage you to resist the temptation to follow internet advice or to follow in the footsteps of others, but to hold your own counsel and keep your beekeeping simple and uniform. It is the work you will do with bees and the techniques you embed in your memory that will make your beekeeping a pleasure and eventually a success, and not internet marketing or novelty.


It's not that it's bad, but that it's a seductive offshoot, a diversion, a variation from standard that nobody needs nor demanded, and it will make your beekeeping unnecessarily complex.

Is the Abelo 11-frame box that good? Yes, undoubtedly, every day, all day and for all purposes, and that is the most helpful advice I can give.

Are there documents for Sarfraz's pallet hive available or a blog?

 

[ericbeaumont]

Are there documents for Sarfraz's pallet hive available or a blog?

Sorry to say, Garry, that he's pure invention, an everyman to represent the continuity of BS spec. from the dot of dawn and down through the years, whether a big manufacturer in nineteen-something or a bloke in a shed last week.

What matters is that as long as BS spec. is followed, universal compatibility is assured.