Abelo poly hives

[thorn]

I've just bought a couple of the Lyson National hives from Abelo, and am a bit bewildered by the ventilation options.
The hives have a mesh floor. The crown board has five large holes, with a mesh and a solid block for each. But the roof has no ventilation, so do I keep the solid blocks in place in the crown board save when I'm feeding? Do I even need to use the crown board save when feeding?
The brood chamber has a hole in the walls front and rear, and the shallows one hole each. Again, there is a solid and a mesh block for each hole. Which should be my default option? Is it one for summer and one for winter? I can see that swapping them in an occupied hive which has been at work with the propolis will be fun.
What do others who've got these hives do?

 

[wightbees]

I have no problem with lyson poly hive, I only got one but the bees seem happy in it. I went with wood after buying it as I can knock wooden boxes out cheaply.

 

[user 6228]

disadvantage: outside dimensions are same as wood which can mean a bigger heat leak because the foam is thinner at the hottest part of the brood box and the box to box mating surface is narrower which can result in a bigger air leak.
disadvantage: big vents in the side of the brood box. unless you seal them inside and out these can be another heat leak.

How big are these disadvantages? ... it will have to wait till i get one to measure the conductance.

 

[mpenn]

I like Abelo poly hive have no problems with them Polish hives all seem to have these
ventilation options
I have been reading the beekeeping magazines on this Polish website it shows a lot of the hives with ventilation holes also quite a few other types of hives as well worth a look at can be translated into English using Google

http://pasieka24.pl/index.php

 

[Beefriendly]

unless you seal them inside and out these can be another heat leak.

With your obsession on heat loss from any form of hive it's a modern miracle our bees theoretically survive winter in anything.
Perhaps you should start marketing your ideal hive?
Here's a starter for ten based on your ideal thermal material below.
I'll settle for a small commission
Although I think the roof may need further attention

 

[Swarm]

Heard a lot of positive feed back about these hives and I'd probably go this route if I was still BBS. I like all the options plus any old supers will still fit neatly.

 

[wightbees]

I like the poly used on it, far better than the UK ones I have, the bees seems to chew the UK ones? ?

 

[local_beekeeper]

I like the poly used on it, far better than the UK ones I have, the bees seems to chew the UK ones? ?

 

[chrisb]

I like the poly used on it, far better than the UK ones I have, the bees seems to chew the UK ones? ?

I will go with that, a lot of uk ones look and feel like the polly packing we use in our shipping dept. the abelo is so much tougher
love the vents, CB solid winter.mesh summer just to let the air flow a bit easier or out altogether to put feeders above
side vents solid winter, mesh summer if it gets silly hot ( humm in uk not likley ) or out all together in the supers to give top entrance, only part I can gripe about with the side vents is they dont put them on the langs only the national as they are the american lang Lyson do, they do a Lang though with side vents
I still feel if you need to measure every bit of heat loss from a hive in order for your bees to survive its time to get stronger more resilient strain of bee's

 

[Finman]

.
Like I have said, I have had 30 years old Nacka polyhives (Swedish). Most of the wall is 2 cm thick. Modern boxes are 4 cm thick. 4 cm thick WALLS is quite a new idea. Not many years old. But Dereckm is not satisfied even if they are double fold thick than before.

Colonies do well with their 2 cm poly walls in -30C temps. But if it is -30C the whole month, many hives will die. Few days do not matter.

Most of all surviving depends on the size of cluster. A small cluster dies easily in the cold like -20C.

Often varroa reduces the cluster. You should have one box full of bees but in December there is only twist size cluster. That is so called "disappearing".

I can save these twist size clusters with terrarium heater. Small colony in the big space cannot keep their heat long.


Nosema is another factor which reduces the cluster and it cannot keep itself warm. Often bees dwindle away during spring and colony is not able to rear new workers. Often the queen is sick and it reduces laying and finally stops.

.
That I am saying, it is not a wall thicknes which matters in wintering

Colonies will die on the best insulated hives too.

You see in the picture Nacka hives, which have 2 cm walls. Bees have done well in those hives 30 years.

.

 

[Finman]

.
In summary I can tell that we do not have such theoretical problems with insulation like UK has. We do not have insulation gurus. Boxes are what they are, and they are all good.

you have there 0C winter days and we have -20C to -30C and we have same kind of hive boxes.

Our autumn and spring are like your winter. Very same, and stop talking about "different climates."

Our autumn +spring, when bees cannot fly, is 5 months. Snow monts are 3 pieces. Period, when bees do not get pollen
is 8 months. It is totally away from nature.

Relax, and enjoy competetion of poly hives. The more products, the more competition and lower prices.

As you see, hive furnitures stand much more cold conditions than you you will ever have there, or you can even imagine.
.
.

 

[Finman]

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If companies have too soft material in their hives, they must change the material better. Otherwise they drop out in competition.

And they change it in a month when they get feed back about their product problems.



If you like the style of product and the price, just go for it. Styles of hives are now plenty.
20 years ago it was only one style.
.

 

[Finman]

I still feel if you need to measure every bit of heat loss from a hive in order for your bees to survive its time to get stronger more resilient strain of bee's

You think that your scientic approach of insulation will affect on evolution of your village mongrels.

Darwin will turn in his grave when he hears that.



.

 

[chrisb]

You think that your scientic approach of insulation will affect on evolution of your village mongrels.

Darwin will turn in his grave when he hears that.



.

Now hang on Fin, where in that comment of mine is there anything scientific facts, reference or any other of that clap trap ?
let me think ???? not there is not

what I am saying is My OPINION is if you need to go to great lengths with your hive to keep your bees alive then it is the bees that are not up to it and not the hive

so before you try and shoot me down please get the facts correct

 

[Finman]

Now hang on Fin, where in that comment of mine is there anything scientific facts, reference or any other of that clap trap ?
let me think ???? not there is not

what I am saying is My OPINION is if you need to go to great lengths with your hive to keep your bees alive then it is the bees that are not up to it and not the hive

so before you try and shoot me down please get the facts correct

That famous English humour

 

[Beefriendly]

You see in the picture Nacka hives, which have 2 cm walls. Bees have done well in those hives 30 years.

Finman, what is that dangling from the side of the big hive? Thermometer??

 

[Finman]

Finman, what is that dangling from the side of the big hive? Thermometer??

These are not my pictures. I do not know the apparatus. I do not know what idea would be to measure temperature in summer, or in winter.

But the text says that those are education hives.
.

 

[dannygolf1959]

I like the poly used on it, far better than the UK ones I have, the bees seems to chew the UK ones? ?

just out of interest,,,,what uk ones do the bees chew on ?

 

[Swarm]

just out of interest,,,,what uk ones do the bees chew on ?

Paynes.

 

[Beefriendly]

The first poly to come to the UK was from Germany and the walls were 40mm and this was in the mid 80's.

If the bees can chew the material then obviously it is too soft.

Personally I had a bad experience with the Abelo material and the bee failed to thrive so I got rid of it. That was two colonies failing to progress over a period of at least 3 years and one of those seasons I had a colony produce over 200 lbs of comb honey so the conditions were I think it fair to say, reasonable.

PH

It seems that you may have had a bad batch (presumably Langstroths?) whereas just about everyone else who has used Abelo hives has had good things to say about them (although a few are puzzled by the ventilation/extra entrance holes) . The Abelo material is the exact same material as Lyson have used for their poly hives for over 30 years. So one should really blame Lyson for a duff batch as that is who manufacture the hives for Abelo. I doubt they would remain one of the largest world beekeeping companies if their main stay of hives was as bad as you make it out to be.
Why don't you try the new ones again, rather than berating a product based on very limited past experience. With three hives could easily just have been sub-standard queens
I've got nothing but good things to say about the Abelo Poly hives. Having just bought another 5 in preference to my previously preferred ones....and I take some satisfying when it comes to poly hives.