Abelo's new hive colours

[Beefriendly]

One example: Paynes landing board is a pointless and wasteful use of plastic which has no benefit whatsoever for beekeeper (clunky, awkward in transport, breaks if knocked, pass the saw) or bee (don't need landing board, couldn't care less).

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Eric you are making an assumption that you know the perfect answer....I think landing boards are very advantageous to beekeeping and would hesitate to buy any hive without one. So you have already lost me as a customer for your newly designed (IMHO) imperfect hive.
You seem to be suggesting that the manufacturers should (yet again) listen to another opinion and change their design to floors without landing boards....
And so it goes on....experts and opinions all different. Me.... I just get on with the materials at hand with a realistic viewpoint that you simply cannot produce the perfect hive to suit every beekeeper.
At least Abelo had the sense to design a poly hive that matches internally and externally with the most popular hive in the UK.

 

[thorn]

I must be a very poor beekeeper. I've not noticed any of the flaws in Abelo's design.
No, I tell a lie. I don't like the crown boards. That's a relief.

 

[ericbeaumont]

Eric you are making an assumption that you know the perfect answer....I think landing boards are very advantageous to beekeeping and would hesitate to buy any hive without one.
At least Abelo had the sense to design a poly hive that matches internally and externally with the most popular hive in the UK.

Far from it, Nigel, but it's no good staying silent when products are plainly the result of insufficient thinking and testing. A good guide on that score is Manley, who wrote in Honey Farming several good pages about hive design; here on page 42 is a classic recipe: these hives are of very simple design, and embody every feature necessary for success. (his emphasis). There's no way to fit the Lyson handholds into that lean description, and of the poly available I reckon only Honey Paw has thought it through: a plain slot giving complete access, a vertical turn at either end for carrying the box on end, and no other fancy recess to reduce thermal efficiency.

Landing boards advantageous? For what? Laying out a picnic? What about the waste of space when loading, the unnecessary expense of material and production? Manley's view remains valid here on page 43: as usually made, floors project 2 inches beyond the front of the hives...It is sometimes argued that, since the floor projections act as alighting platforms, their removal will result in the loss of bees through their having nothing to settle on when returning to their hives. However, after some years of using short floors with hundreds of hives I have not been able to detect any loss from this cause. Bees that are healthy can get back into their hives all right, I think, without any special platform to settle on. But from my point of view the most important advantage of the short floor is that it so greatly assists in the preparation of hives of bees for travelling.)

Mind you, he reminds us (I'm sure Ian will smile) that essential as it is certainly is to have good hives, there has been, ever since the first wooden hive was made, an altogether disproportionate fuss among beekeepers about hives and their designs. We have all of us, I suppose, fallen for this nonsense about how this hive is better than that...

PS: I agree, the original Abelo was on the way to being ideal; not sure that another design was necessary, unless to ease the production bottleneck which made the hive unavailable for much of last year.

 

[ericbeaumont]

Thank you gentlemen. Seems as though homemade floors are in order.

Murox, this link from Limerick BKA to making underfloor entrance floors may be useful; it's well-illustrated and looks straightforward.

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

I can send him the plans, building instructions of one simpler to build than that if he wants to PM me

 

[ericbeaumont]

I can send him the plans, building instructions of one simpler to build than that if he wants to PM me

Thanks, JBM, but he had the link to your plans and Graham White's on post 23 .

 

[Beefriendly]

Landing boards advantageous? For what? Laying out a picnic? What about the waste of space when loading, the unnecessary expense of material and production? Manley's view remains valid here on r.

An oft trotted out argument against landing boards which has little relevance to most beekeepers. Perhaps if you are counting number of trailer loads of beehives and journeys needed by big commercial keepers. It's not even an issue for us hobbyists.
I'll bet your old volvo estate (like mine) could move 4 hives max with any sized landing board...bit of a height restriction.....
I now have a truck and can move 6 hives in one go. I can move 6 Paynes hives with long landing boards, 6 Abelo with landing boards or 6 old wooden national hives with no landing boards.....I can't fit any more in unless I stack....which isn't an option.
So basically the landing boards make no difference to the number of hives I can load nor do they do so to the vast majority of beekeepers. So no waste of space for the vast majority.

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

Thanks, JBM, but he had the link to your plans and Graham White's on post 23 .

didn't think that link worked any more, but I now have improved plans and drawings thanks to the editorial team at the Scottish Beekeeper's Magazine

 

[Ian123]

6 in a truck!!! I get 10 in 1 layer on a pick up, if you add some 2x2 runners for an air gap and ply cut width ways you can get 12 more on top. And no landing boards......

 

[BMH]

6 in a truck!!! I get 10 in 1 layer on a pick up, if you add some 2x2 runners for an air gap and ply cut width ways you can get 12 more on top. And no landing boards......

What truck? Single cab?

My double cab L200 is 6 to a layer as well with about 20mm to spare.

 

[Beersmith]

Out of interest, are there any major differences between the Abelo designs and those sold in Europe by Lyson? If not my guess is that the design may be heavily influenced by the requirements of continental bee keepers (possibly a much bigger market) for Lyson rather than the smaller UK market for Abelo products.

 

[Ian123]

Single cab....double cabs can’t take anything apart from the kids hives go 3223 allowing for wheel arches

 

[Beefriendly]

Out of interest, are there any major differences between the Abelo designs and those sold in Europe by Lyson? If not my guess is that the design may be heavily influenced by the requirements of continental bee keepers (possibly a much bigger market) for Lyson rather than the smaller UK market for Abelo products.

Lyson don't sell National hives on the continent, there is no demand for them.
Each hive size requires a completely separate mould.

 

[local_beekeeper]

Out of interest, are there any major differences between the Abelo designs and those sold in Europe by Lyson? If not my guess is that the design may be heavily influenced by the requirements of continental bee keepers (possibly a much bigger market) for Lyson rather than the smaller UK market for Abelo products.

In my opinion if the design works in Europe/World why should it not work in the UK?

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

In my opinion if the design works in Europe/World why should it not work in the UK?

Because the rest of the world don't use British National frame formats

 

[Swarm]

Because the rest of the world don't use British National frame formats

Maybe that's why they never get it right.

 

[local_beekeeper]

Because the rest of the world don't use British National frame formats

Are you saying each frame size should have diffrent hive design???

I bet that most hives in the Europe has very similar frame size to British National frame.

 

[mpenn]

Because the rest of the world don't use British National frame formats

What do you mean by British National frame formats compared to European hive formats they all have frames and boxes ?

 

[Murox]

What do you mean by British National frame formats compared to European hive formats they all have frames and boxes ?

here is just a small sample of the frame sizes in use right now
French congress loot (362 x 362 mm), German Normal [unit size] (223 x 370 mm), German Normal, one and a half (338 x 370 mm), German Normal, flat (159 x 370 mm), German Normal, half (110 x 370 mm), Hoffmann, large (260 x 410 mm), 1.5 zander (330 x 420 mm), 4/3 Zander, breeding room (300 x 420 mm), 4/3 Zander, honey room (150 x 420 mm), ZaDant (285 x 420 mm), Zander (220 x 420 mm), Zander, flat (159 x 420 mm), Zander, half (110 x 420 mm), Zander, Jumbo (326 x 420 mm), Austrian broadwave (255 x 426 mm), Dadant Leaf, Incubator (300 x 435 mm), Dadant leaf, honey room (159 x 435 mm), Dadant [modified], Incubator (285 x 448 mm), Dadant [modified], honey room (141 x 448 mm), Dadant US, Incubator (285 x 448 mm), Dadant US, honey room (160 x 448 mm), Langstroth, flat, 1/2 (137 x 448 mm), Langstroth, flat, 2/3 (159 x 448 mm), Langstroth, flat, 3/4 (185 x 448 mm), Langstroth, whole (232 x 448 mm), Langstroth, Jumbo (285 x 448 mm),

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

I bet that most hives in the Europe has very similar frame size to British National frame.

You'd lose that bet convincingly