Brood boxes

[Stiffy]

I am now planing to sell my poly hive.

Give you £20 for it

 

[Angry_Mob]

If you choose to get a poly hive go for maismoor or swenti not paynes, at least in my experiance.

Don't have any experience of the Maisimore hive but the external dimensions differ to that of a standard national so I doubt I ever will. I've had Swienty and would be reluctant to buy again, instead I'd highly recommend the Abelo hive.

 

[Bee Boys]

I am sorry but it is only 6 mounths old and I was hoping for over £ 90.

 

[Erichalfbee]

Read a paper* regards some prof testing if bees could survive cold/exposure/cluster temp over winter, hive had one side removed and bees survived, interesting stuff.

Air temps inside the hive are only slightly above outside temps, down to -50 (I've read). Last winter I'd accidgentally left an empty super (no frames and qx fitted) on a feral hive, they survived fine.

*might have been posted on here.

Survived, yes
Thrived?

I am sorry but it is only 6 mounths old and I was hoping for over £ 90.

I think stiffy was joking too

 

[Swarm]

Read a paper* regards some prof testing if bees could survive cold/exposure/cluster temp over winter, hive had one side removed and bees survived, interesting stuff.

Air temps inside the hive are only slightly above outside temps, down to -50 (I've read). Last winter I'd accidentally left an empty super (no frames and qx fitted) on a feral hive, they survived fine.

*might have been posted on here.

I knew of a feral colony as a youngster, it was tucked up in the top of a void on the other side of a large bank, you could stand under it (at least I could when I was twelve)
They were there year after year, pre varroa ofc.
Amm reached some pretty hostile environments during its colonisation.

 

[Walrus]

Well, here we go again on the poly vs. wood discussion, even though IMO many things (like good queens, control of varroa mites & disease, swarm management, nutrition etc) are more important to being a good beekeeper than hive type.

 

[Poly Hive]

ITLD has the numbers and has posted them up here. With equal treatment on AVERAGE poly comes out ahead. If memory serves he was 10 to 15 pounds up with the poly and over a number of colonies that adds up.

I so like the way that they winter so well in poly. Nothing more depressing than finding that dead colony in Spring.

One saying that is unarguable is "Dead bees produce no honey".

PH

 

[Swarm]

ITLD has the numbers and has posted them up here. With equal treatment on AVERAGE poly comes out ahead. If memory serves he was 10 to 15 pounds up with the poly and over a number of colonies that adds up.

I so like the way that they winter so well in poly. Nothing more depressing than finding that dead colony in Spring.

One saying that is unarguable is "Dead bees produce no honey".

PH

Sorry PH, but statements like this suggest they die in Cedar hives. Beginners Section and beginners seem to be thinking they MUST add extra insulation, change hive type (OP) to get their bees through winter.
If they are unhealthy, riddled with mites and/or under provisioned, they will die in poly and wood.
The beginners message should be all about health and feeding, get that right and they thrive in either.

 

[Fusion_power]

As a standalone with a few tweaks, it works rather well. No reference to hive type necessary.

"sick bees are dead bees and dead bees produce no honey"

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

Sorry PH, but statements like this suggest they die in Cedar hives. Beginners Section and beginners seem to be thinking they MUST add extra insulation, change hive type (OP) to get their bees through winter.
If they are unhealthy, riddled with mites and/or under provisioned, they will die in poly and wood.
The beginners message should be all about health and feeding, get that right and they thrive in either.

 

[Poly Hive]

I sain nothing of the kind swarm. What nonsense. Utter rubbish in fact.

Shame sir, shame.

PH

 

[Walrus]

For the avoidance of doubt (I hope!):


1) Poly Hive, as his username suggests, prefers polystyrene hives to other types


2) Bees probably won't die in any type of hive if they are well prepared for winter (healthy, enough stores, big colony)


3) Many winter losses, regardless of hive type, are related to varroa/virus issues, poorly mated queens, not enough bees or not enough stores. Sick bees often die, whatever box they live in.


4) ITLD is the biggest UK bee farmer so his sample size (3500+ hives) plus his years of experience make him worth listening to, and he says poly hives produce more honey for him. His whole season is geared towards moving hives to the heather in Scotland, meaning they come off the hills late, and poly hives enable him to feed syrup for winter into October/November despite the cold, which suits him.

 

[Beefriendly]

2) Bees probably won't die in any type of hive if they are well prepared for winter (healthy, enough stores, big colony)

.

Even with crownboards propped open with matchsticks.
What is very noticeable is that bees in Polyhives use far less stores to maintain themselves over the winter. Which I'm assuming means the heater bees don't have as much work to do.
This seems to equate to more bees surviving the winter and faster spring build up.
When I ran 5 poly vs 5 wooden hives side by side for comparison I found, come March, most poly where on 5-8 frames of brood whereas most wooden hives were on 3-4. So it seems you get a much faster spring build up; which in my area is a boost for the OSR crop.

 

[mike99]

For the avoidance of doubt (I hope!):


1) Poly Hive, as his username suggests, prefers polystyrene hives to other types


2) Bees probably won't die in any type of hive if they are well prepared for winter (healthy, enough stores, big colony)


3) Many winter losses, regardless of hive type, are related to varroa/virus issues, poorly mated queens, not enough bees or not enough stores. Sick bees often die, whatever box they live in.


4) ITLD is the biggest UK bee farmer so his sample size (3500+ hives) plus his years of experience make him worth listening to, and he says poly hives produce more honey for him. His whole season is geared towards moving hives to the heather in Scotland, meaning they come off the hills late, and poly hives enable him to feed syrup for winter into October/November despite the cold, which suits him.

Even to a newby like me, that post deserves a triple Gold star! As with everything in life, personal choice is paramount and can create heated debates. I get a load of advice from here but I have to read the thread and extract what makes sense to me.

 

[SWEET]

Survived, yes
Thrived?

Ref my feral scum;
They tried to swarm a couple of times this year, in each case I removed the new queen cells into nucs and let them get on with it, original hive doing well (checked this weekend) couple of nucs are going strong.

Not the happiest of bees and produce little honey, but saved from the 600 year old oak in the garden (that died), might re-queen using BF next year.

So yeah, I guess they have.

Top post @Walrus

 

[Erichalfbee]

Ref my feral scum;
They tried to swarm a couple of times this year, in each case I removed the new queen cells into nucs and let them get on with it, original hive doing well (checked this weekend) couple of nucs are going strong.

Not the happiest of bees and produce little honey, but saved from the 600 year old oak in the garden (that died), might re-queen using BF next year.

So yeah, I guess they have.

Top post @Walrus

I didn’t mean yours.
I meant the ones in half a hive

 

[SWEET]

I didn’t mean yours.
I meant the ones in half a hive

Knew that was coming ha, no idea sadly and spent hours trying to find the paper yesterday (I'll try and find it). Seemed like a cruel experiment to me and got the feeling they were prob destroyed regardless.

 

[Erichalfbee]

Knew that was coming ha, no idea sadly and spent hours trying to find the paper yesterday (I'll try and find it). Seemed like a cruel experiment to me and got the feeling they were prob destroyed regardless.

Well walrus said it all
Personal preference where the bees are kept as long as you keep them healthy.

 

[pargyle]

Well walrus said it all
Personal preference where the bees are kept as long as you keep them healthy.

And warm
And draught free

.... takes a while for things to catch on ... Bill
Bielby .. a great Yorkshire beekeeper in his 1972 book 'Home honey production ' "You can never have too much insulation" and "The best way to overwinter bees is to keep them as draught free as possible". Nearly 40 years on and people are still not convinced ....

 

[Erichalfbee]

And warm
And draught free

.... takes a while for things to catch on ... Bill
Bielby .. a great Yorkshire beekeeper in his 1972 book 'Home honey production ' "You can never have too much insulation" and "The best way to overwinter bees is to keep them as draught free as possible". Nearly 40 years on and people are still not convinced ....

Well as you know I’m convinced. I simply had to take some pictures of the hives with infra red to appreciate the heat loss through wood. I have only a few wooden boxes so can cosy them all. Obviously I couldn’t if I had 20 of them.