Getting prepared advice!

[ericbeaumont]

reduce or end plastic use

Single-use plastic, perhaps, plastic that ends up in oceans and clogs drains in parts of the world without effective sanitation and clean water (=cholera), plastic bags we accept when shopping without thinking (look, I have hands!), plastic burned on bonfires, plastic tents dumped by dopey types on Snowdonia or at festivals (check the photo!), plastic toys used for a week, broken and dumped, plastic grass replacing lawns of the lazy rich...(that's enough plastic).

A thermally-efficient box that'll last 40 years of continual use is hardly in the same category.

 

[pargyle]

Being new to this beekeeping game it’s surprised me how many beekeepers are using poly hives. When everyone is trying to reduce or end plastic use, it seems the opposite is true with beekeeping and cedar hives are declining and the poly hives increasing.

I’m not a eco fanatic at all but it does strike me as odd that a poly hive once damaged and thrown away will never decompose in over 100 years, the microscopic chemicals it could be infecting bees and honey with over time? Each to their own.

There are poly hives in use that are thirty plus years old and still serviceable .. some of mine are at least 10 and still in use. Finman has poly hives that are ancient and survive in his climate. If you work our the real carbon footprint you will find that it compares reasonably favourably with timber ...probably better than pine hives and certainly close to cedar.

Bees do very well in poly hives. They are made from very dense polystyrene and they don't damage easily ... Better for the bees and lighter for the beekeepers back ...

As for microscopic chemicals affecting bees and honey ? The bees propolise all the interior surfaces and we paint the outside with water based paints usually. Our forefathers treated their timber hives with creosote and the traditional finish for WBC was whitewash (Lime !). You need to look elsewhere for arguments against using poly....

 

[Levitt53]

I love my poly hives. I'm just getting round to repainting them. 5 years on and they are fine so I expect they will last be a lot lot longer. Bees overwinter well in them and they are a lot lighter as well as cheaper. I imagine it helps the bees stay cool in the heat as well. Mine are Paynes which as said do have a bigger outside area. I have a couple of wooden hives which I use in an emergency and also use when I do Snelgrove splits as the board obviously fits the wooden hives and if it I use two poly boxes I can't get to the doors.

 

[Murox]

Lime wash (whitewash) has antimicrobial properties ~ was used in chicken huts and dairies for years.

 

[madasafish]

I have a very s/hand but still with bees in it poly nuc. It is 30 years old.
Mending poly hives is easy.

If anyone has a broken one they don't want, I'll take it off their hands.

 

[BigAshW]

I'd move to poly hives I think. Except maisemore dont do commercial supers for their commercial hives and I don't want a different sized frame to have to deal with so until someone makes a full commercial hive I'll have to stick to my wooden boxes.

 

[Gilberdyke John]

I have a very s/hand but still with bees in it poly nuc. It is 30 years old.
Mending poly hives is easy.

If anyone has a broken one they don't want, I'll take it off their hands.

I agree mending is easy. One of our Neddy's got hold of a poly super during the winter and it ended up in four pieces. Having asked in here for suggestions re repair adhesive I used araldite on the broken surfaces and screwed the bits together to hold things tight while it set. Apart from the screw heads being visible it's strong as ever.