Cutting Feeder Out Of a Polly Nuc

[Millet]

To the folk who do it how do you cut the feed chamber out nice and tidy in a 6 frame Paynes poly nuc with a feeder built in..i done one earlier with a hack saw blade and i was there what seemed like a life time..

 

[Lancs Lad]

To the folk who do it how do you cut the feed chamber out nice and tidy in a 6 frame Paynes poly nuc with a feeder built in..i done one earlier with a hack saw blade and i was there what seemed like a life time..

I do it with a large knife heated with a blowtorch

 

[Millet]

I do it with a large knife heated with a blowtorch

That sounds reasonable.. how quick is it and what damage does it cause to the bit you want to keep..
Cheers
Steve.

 

[fatshark]

Breadknife.

Make sure you wipe the blood off before returning it to the kitchen.

 

[Angry_Mob]

I've cut poly with an oscillating tool, should make quick and easy work of it.

 

[Millet]

Breadknife.

Make sure you wipe the blood off before returning it to the kitchen.

Haha...

 

[Lancs Lad]

That sounds reasonable.. how quick is it and what damage does it cause to the bit you want to keep..
Cheers
Steve.

Cuts it out in seconds with no damage, you will need to cut a piece off the piece you cut out to fit in the small void that the feeder leaves.

 

[Murox]

Surely an electric hot wire cutter would give the smoothest cut ?

 

[pargyle]

I do mine with a Bosch oscilating cutter ... leaves a very smooth surface and the pieces cut out are used to fill the voids left. A bit of car body filler tidies up the gaps and seals eveything in.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/125609724@N03/albums/72157659314817230

 

[Millet]

I do mine with a Bosch oscilating cutter ... leaves a very smooth surface and the pieces cut out are used to fill the voids left. A bit of car body filler tidies up the gaps and seals eveything in.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/125609724@N03/albums/72157659314817230

That's brilliant... thank you and the folk for the ideas..

 

[Millet]

Here is the first one done..I cut it out yesterday with the hacksaw blade as mentioned and filled the voids today..when I finished work..I am not sure whether to fill the small gap with filler as i am sure the bees will fill it themselves with propalis..

 

[Beefriendly]

Here is the first one done...

Why?

 

[pargyle]

Here is the first one done..I cut it out yesterday with the hacksaw blade as mentioned and filled the voids today..when I finished work..I am not sure whether to fill the small gap with filler as i am sure the bees will fill it themselves with propalis..

I'd fill it as otherwise the bees will nibble at the edge of it. As well .. if you get wax moths in there they will find crevices like that to hide away in and the bees won't be able to sort them out ... the wax moth grubs have no problem boring through polystyrene.

You can use polyfilla to fill it .. just takes a bit longer to set than car body filler,

 

[pargyle]

Why?

Why not ? I don't like the integral feeder, after removal you can still use it as a five frame nuc with a dummy board or it's a nice size as a 7 frame hive for a swarm or for letting a Nuc expand a bit more before they go into a full hive. They are not as expensive as a full hive so they are useful as an extra box.

Lots of benefits ... but, of course, it's probably not 'Proper' beekeeping - but do I care ? Not a lot ...

 

[Beefriendly]

Why not ?

Just puzzled. It's a great feeder yet a trend is to remover it. Why?

 

[Millet]

Why?

They do not work for me N.. ... i have only had them one season and i find them horrible at killing bees..i will explain why if you want.. however top feeders do not kill bees in the numbers i have witnessed in them poly feeders..

 

[Hivemaker.]

It's a great feeder

One of the nuc boxes best attributes.

 

[Millet]

One of the nuc boxes best attributes.

If you are big and do not mind drowning and splatting bees then they are the dogs bollocks.. ..i only have a few colonies and i treat them with as much care as i can..

 

[Hivemaker.]

If you are big and do not mind drowning and splatting bees

If that were to happen I wouldn't be using them, but it doesn't, so I do.

 

[Millet]

So don't and i wont ..