Handling Abelo mating hive and bs honey nuc. (two hives split by partition)

[Andy]

I bought an abelo mating hive this year but unfortunately had a horrible robbing out before I noticed so didn't get very far. I never got the chance to do anything with the hives. I was wondering how people handle it? The feeder is directly on the hive which is split in to two sides with a rubbish piece of polystyrene which has had the lugs break off after only a few removals. If I take off the feeder I cannot easily check for queens underneath because of all the syrup. Also, I would assume that the queens can nip over the central divider when the lid is off.

The BS honey nuc has the same design issues. Do any of you have these items, and how do you check what's going on inside?

 

[mbc]

I bought an abelo mating hive this year but unfortunately had a horrible robbing out before I noticed so didn't get very far. I never got the chance to do anything with the hives. I was wondering how people handle it? The feeder is directly on the hive which is split in to two sides with a rubbish piece of polystyrene which has had the lugs break off after only a few removals. If I take off the feeder I cannot easily check for queens underneath because of all the syrup. Also, I would assume that the queens can nip over the central divider when the lid is off.

The BS honey nuc has the same design issues. Do any of you have these items, and how do you check what's going on inside?

I use a bit of polythene sheet as a crown board for the mini plus hives, makes everything a bit easier to open, the central divider only comes off for uniting the sides ( and other boxes) at the end of the season once the queens are harvested. I'd never try and pry the dividers up by their fragile lugs, its quite a struggle to wiggle them out after a seasons use and is best done with a frame or two removed.

 

[Andy]

I use a bit of polythene sheet as a crown board for the mini plus hives, makes everything a bit easier to open, the central divider only comes off for uniting the sides ( and other boxes) at the end of the season once the queens are harvested. I'd never try and pry the dividers up by their fragile lugs, its quite a struggle to wiggle them out after a seasons use and is best done with a frame or two removed.

Hi thanks for the reply. Do your mini hives have a feeder above? The plastic crown board would stop access unless you have cut holes in it I guess.

This is the hive I have https://www.google.com/search?client=safari&rls=en&q=abelo+mating+hive&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8 though I think this new one may be more practical https://www.abelo.co.uk/shop/mini-plus-national-hive/mini-plus-national-hive-unpainted/

 

[mbc]

Hi thanks for the reply. Do your mini hives have a feeder above? The plastic crown board would stop access unless you have cut holes in it I guess.

This is the hive I have https://www.google.com/search?client=safari&rls=en&q=abelo+mating+hive&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8 though I think this new one may be more practical https://www.abelo.co.uk/shop/mini-plus-national-hive/mini-plus-national-hive-unpainted/

I've got dozens of mini plus hives with feeders on top and each divider has a polythene crown board stapled to it with holes for access to the feeder in the appropriate place and then loads of spare sheets with similar holes for when the dividers come out, also correx dummy boards.
I think these units are great bits of kit but as soon as I used one the feeder got stuck with propolis and was a pain to remove without stirring up the bees, a real downside when you're looking for queens, so I made the little covers and have used them for years trouble free since. They do get damp and attract slugs and worms though so frame life expectancy isnt great.

 

[Andy]

Interesting. How long do you find the frames last? The new mini plus national ones are quite expensive.