Hello from NE Essex

[Gilberdyke John]

Thanks for an interesting link, I'll most probably need to order by post as the nearest Thorne's sale day is probably a four hour round trip from here. Also I'm fairly sure the locals here will be using Nationals but I need to make sure before parting with any hard earned.

Have a look at the poly hives on the Abelo website. Complete floor, brood box, two supers, crownboard and roof all in one package. Add frames and foundation and you're ready for bees.
https://www.abelo.co.uk/

 

[Johnnifer]

I looked at Abelo and did a price comparison against Thorne's...

Abelo National poly hive starter kit for £270.00

Abelo National cedar hive starter kit for £255.00

Thorne's Bees on a Budget cedar hive starter kit £250.01 (was £230 last week)

All kits include a DN brood plus 2 SN super hive complete with frames & foundation, suit, veil, gloves, smoker, hive tool and bee brush.

The differences in the packages are the Abelo kit comes with 11 off DN4 & 22 off SN4 frames & foundation vs the Thorne's kit which has 10 off DN4 & 20 off SN1 frames & foundation, 1 off DN dummy board, metal runners for the DN and 10 slot metal castellated spacers for the SN. Also Thorne's kit includes a feeder and mouse guard.

Correct me if I'm wrong but isn't a cedar hive a more robust product than polystyrene hive?

 

[thedozzer]

I looked at Abelo and did a price comparison against Thorne's...

Abelo National poly hive starter kit for £270.00

Abelo National cedar hive starter kit for £255.00

Thorne's Bees on a Budget cedar hive starter kit £250.01 (was £230 last week)

All kits include a DN brood plus 2 SN super hive complete with frames & foundation, suit, veil, gloves, smoker, hive tool and bee brush.
?

We ended up buying a 12x14 starter kit from simon the beekeeper and they even changed the hood style from fencing to traditional, you get a complete hive including 2 suppers and all the frames, the bees are happy with the Masie hives and we have been quite happy with the the rest of the kit and at just under £200 delivered was very good value.

https://www.simonthebeekeeper.co.uk/complete-packages/national-high-density-packages

 

[Gilberdyke John]

I looked at Abelo and did a price comparison against Thorne's...

Abelo National poly hive starter kit for £270.00

Abelo National cedar hive starter kit for £255.00

Thorne's Bees on a Budget cedar hive starter kit £250.01 (was £230 last week)

All kits include a DN brood plus 2 SN super hive complete with frames & foundation, suit, veil, gloves, smoker, hive tool and bee brush.

The differences in the packages are the Abelo kit comes with 11 off DN4 & 22 off SN4 frames & foundation vs the Thorne's kit which has 10 off DN4 & 20 off SN1 frames & foundation, 1 off DN dummy board, metal runners for the DN and 10 slot metal castellated spacers for the SN. Also Thorne's kit includes a feeder and mouse guard.

Correct me if I'm wrong but isn't a cedar hive a more robust product than polystyrene hive?

I started out with wooden hives but after experimenting with hive cosies I moved to poly hives which are lighter to handle and the Abelo (Lyson) model is robust. Ok it wouldn't resist clumsy use of a hive tool but it's easy to damage wood if the hive tool is used improperly.
You may perhaps wish to consider the content of a beginners kit. Abelo sell Lyson beesuits which are decent quality. I don't know if that's the sort in their kit but you may like to check?

 

[thorn]

Cedar may possibly be more robust, but it's my experience that the bees come through winter stronger in an Abelo poly. And I have seen the dovetail joints in some wooden hives come apart after a few winters of rain and frost.
Price out what you get in the beginners pack. It may well be cheaper to buy a hive from Abelo, and get the rest of the kit from Simon.

 

[Johnnifer]

I was out walking today and less than two miles from home and just off the public footpath I came across a small compound with nine hives and two Nucs set up on stands in it. It looks as if the locals have a preference for timber based 14x12 National broods and Shallow National supers.

I think the local BKA has a meet tomorrow night I might just pop my head through the door.