cheap hive on Amazon

[Bluebell]

I bought the £105 hive from Amazon and am really pleased with it (also bought Th**nes budget hive in December and a pre-assembled Maisemore hive). Seems to be good quality cedar and as my carpentry skills are not great I was thrilled to find that the roof and floor were already assembled (although I converted to omf - £3.48 mesh from Th**nes). Galvanised nails from B&Q pretty cheap too so all in all think it's a good deal. Don't really understand your beef re. the frames etc. I always shop around, haven't yet found any one co. that has the cheapest everything - that really would be too good to be true!

 

[psafloyd]

Now £99.95.

 

[jezd]

Have used Eas*pet before - always happy with products - although if you buy cheap expect cheap

used their foundation at all?

did you notice anything odd? lol - I did

 

[victor meldrew]

oh well - at least you can count on income from your £25 a jar honey to keep you in "play pennies" over the winter!!!

The price of a cedar super fully furnished will pay for itself plus some extra the first time filled . Pay back time zero .
Why scrimp?
VM

 

[Drew]

The price of a cedar super fully furnished will pay for itself plus some extra the first time filled . Pay back time zero .
Why scrimp?
VM

Surely that logic is somewhat flawed?
On that basis it could be argued
a) Buy/make dirt cheap hardboard supers (or even thick cardboard/estate agent boards ie anything cheaper than Cedar) and buy/make them new each year (or each extraction).

Presumably the argument for Cedar (or other "lasting" material) would be that it will last for X years for initial cost and work out (over time) cheaper than keep replacing tat.

(and it looks better, is harder wearing etc etc)

I guess on Supers the insulation arguments don't come into it but.......

 

[Woeski]

Not all Cedars are equal

Please note it does say "cedar" in a beatifully non-specific kind of way.
It is unlikely to be Western Red Cedar, more likely to be white cedar.
White Cedar is a completely different species of tree to the Western Red.
But still better than pine....

Western Red cedar has some pretty amazing properties for a plank of wood. It is lightweight with a high strength to density ratio. The same goes for White Cedar but it is generally a more "knotty" wood.
Where Western Red excels is it is almost imprevious to pests and weather.
It can resist changes in humidity and temperature better than just about any other softwood. (Yes it is a softwood) Repeated drying and wetting of this wood will not split it. It can cope with the humidity differential between the inside of the hive and the outside with minimal distortion. It also has a natural pest resistance due the oils within the wood. These do not fade quickly but can survive for 30 years. These two factors together give Western Red Cedar it's longevity.
Unfortunately for the luddites amongst us, high density polystyrene wins on all counts. Except in the asthetic department.

 

[Woeski]

Note to self

"Read all the other replys in the thread before you post stuff"
Sigh!

 

[redpola]

Probably causing this thread to go on even longer....

Hi,

There's a guy local to me who makes beehives as a sideline. I bought my first hive from him, then went a bit mad and decided to build my second hive from a thornes kit just to say I had built one of my hives. The first hive is quite a lot better in both finish and quality, plus when I took it to my mentor to pick up my bees he also passed comment on what a well-designed and made hive it was.

I'm just a customer- no connection to the company at all. These hives are £107 quid built, and delivery £10, which I think is dead cheap.

http://shop.rich-field.co.uk/beehive-national-c-28.html

Neil.

 

[markylaird]

also cadden hives are cheap but quality prob like 2nds

 

[bobster]

Maybe these are China imports as well? the advert states, -- Dispatched from and sold by Far East Direct Ltd. Admin

According to a reviewer 'made in China'.

Surely we can source hives more locally than China!



Bobster

 

[ianf]

ply hive

I have a ply hive from fragplan, iam well pleased, quite cheap and well made. Maybe a bit heavy when full of honey. But that is a problem we all like. Ian.

 

[beesydoesit]

Hi all,
First time on the forum, First of many I hope.
Firstly I am not employed or involved in any way with this company easipet or far east trading.
I have purchased 2 of these hives recently after our club purchased 10 for their bees. I was able to inspect theres and found them to be fine,
couple of points,
The floors dont have mesh in so you need to buy these seperate about £5 each, the roofs have no vents and they sit directly on top of the crown board as such dont have any batons inside the roof, so some modification required.
The queen excluders are bambo which I dont like and will replace with wooden framed metal excluders,
As for the quality of the wood, I am no expert but it looks and smells like red ceder to me.If you inspect the edges there are a few cracks in one or two of the planks making up the sides of the supers. you will also need to purchaes nails and glue as these are not included. you get floor, entrance reducer, brood chamber with steel runners, bambo queen excluder, 2 supers with steel runners, crown board and 4" roof with aly cover.
They come with good clear instructions and all the pieces are numbered.
I must admit when purchasing I did not consider where the wood came from and on reflection after reading a thread on here about Russian ceder it is a concern.
So you pay your money and takes your chance, I think they are fine, will see what the bees think next spring.
K

 

[beeatshellards]

welcome to the forum beesydoesit lots of useful info on the forum and great members too

 

[jezd]

Hi,

There's a guy local to me who makes beehives as a sideline. I bought my first hive from him, then went a bit mad and decided to build my second hive from a Th**nes kit just to say I had built one of my hives. The first hive is quite a lot better in both finish and quality, plus when I took it to my mentor to pick up my bees he also passed comment on what a well-designed and made hive it was.

I'm just a customer- no connection to the company at all. These hives are £107 quid built, and delivery £10, which I think is dead cheap.

http://shop.rich-field.co.uk/beehive-national-c-28.html

Neil.

Cheap, heavy, poorly made, measurements and bee space all over the place - I have experience.

Avoid and buy Cedar!!!!!

 

[Bob Bee]

The come from a firm called Easipet in Devon called Far East Direct UK Ltd. Lots of bad feedback for dog beds etc but just "Some items damaged and I have to return to swap having fully assembled." on the hives - early days yet...

Someone must have bought one and could review it here - I reckon Th**nes budget with frames are better value...

R2

bees on a budget are a real lottery, I had one in quite good shape and all the extras were good value, so i orederd another and the timber was rubbish, dried and crumbly (felt like balsa in places) the brood box had appalling knots, even cut on the joints and clearly hardly fit for purpose. I wouldnt chance another one.

more pictures on my profile.
You really do get what you pay for. I suspect that Easipets are far superior to this.

 

[Hivemaker.]

dried and crumbly (felt like balsa in places)

Sounds like butt rot.

 

[The Apprentices]

Why not souce local timber and use damaged new seconds to save lots of cash.

Good quality redwood will last just as long as WRC if its properly treated from new before subjecting it to the ellements.

Having made many different items and hive parts from many kinds of pine over the years I can say WRC is not the strongest and doesn't stand up to rough treatment like ordinary redwood does, cedar is lighter but much weaker and a pain to work with when cutting joints etc.

In our next club magazine I'm suggesting that we get together and show people how to save money by doing things for themselves, my meagre work place is always open to beeks who want to DIT.

Learn another skill today and also help those who want to help themselves.

 

[Bob Bee]

bees on a budget are a real lottery, I had one in quite good shape and all the extras were good value, so i orederd another and the timber was rubbish, dried and crumbly (felt like balsa in places) the brood box had appalling knots, even cut on the joints and clearly hardly fit for purpose. I wouldnt chance another one.

more pictures on my profile.
You really do get what you pay for. I suspect that Easipets are far superior to this.

pleased to say that T hornes have today offered to replace the offending parts with a full apology

 

[dpearce4]

Sounds like butt rot.

no if you have butt rot the curry you ate the night before was to spicy

 

[VEG]

So not so bad after all.