Hi and help on hive selection, to polyhive or not and what's wrong with langstroths!

[Willardx]

Hi all. I am brand new to beekeeping and currently on a beginner's course with my local association.
I am hoping to get one or two hives this year and am on a bit of a budget. I was keen on the look of polyhives but this didn't get a great response from the association, suggesting cleaning difficulties etc. They were also not massively keen on langstroths. Annoyingly it is polyhives and wooden langstroths which I have found at the most sensible prices.
I am sure that you guys have heard this before but any guidance would be greatly appreciated. Many thanks.

 

[amigadave]

Does your association, or one nearby, have an auction coming up soon? It could be a good place to find some bargains (and probably some rubbish).

 

[Willardx]

Good call. I will have a word.

 

[Heather]

Hi and welcome to bee keeping (another lamb to the slaughter!)
We have a chap at our Assoc (Brighton) who will make a beautiful Cedar National hive with 2 supers for £160.
Get on a swarm list to get bees for free.
I have no experience of langstroths but Nationals are the most used, and are user friendly.

If you get second hand please sterilise as much as pos (heat scorching)

 

[Swarm]

Cleaning poly, not a problem but I suspect those advising you differently have no experience with them. Nationals are usually suggested because it's what everyone else has and nucs are generally more available on national format.

 

[user 6228]

Hi all. I am brand new to beekeeping and currently on a beginner's course with my local association.
I am hoping to get one or two hives this year and am on a bit of a budget. I was keen on the look of polyhives but this didn't get a great response from the association, suggesting cleaning difficulties etc. They were also not massively keen on langstroths. Annoyingly it is polyhives and wooden langstroths which I have found at the most sensible prices.
I am sure that you guys have heard this before but any guidance would be greatly appreciated. Many thanks.

if one of the largest bee farmers in the country sees poly hives as the best for bee welfare and his honey production and has 1000s of them, then I think you are on safe ground going poly.

 

[Millet]

if one of the largest bee farmers in the country sees poly hives as the best for bee welfare and his honey production and has 1000s of them, then I think you are on safe ground going poly.

No one could argue with that..

 

[Willardx]

I like this logic!

 

[Beagle23]

Hi all. I am brand new to beekeeping and currently on a beginner's course with my local association.
I am hoping to get one or two hives this year and am on a bit of a budget. I was keen on the look of polyhives but this didn't get a great response from the association, suggesting cleaning difficulties etc. They were also not massively keen on langstroths. Annoyingly it is polyhives and wooden langstroths which I have found at the most sensible prices.
I am sure that you guys have heard this before but any guidance would be greatly appreciated. Many thanks.

There are some good deals for second hand hives on Ebay but you'll need to collect them in the majority of cases - and buy your own stand (not sure why there are so many hives for sale without stands).

As one noob to another, good luck with it

 

[charlievictorbravo]

The poly hive that performed best thermally in a recent academic study was made by Beehive Supplies of Harrowbarrow in Cornwall. 14x12 brood box + 2 supers = £135 with free shipping - there's a discount if you collect. They are sold flat-packed and you put them together. Our association bought one as a trial and we spent one evening meeting putting it together last spring. It has performed well.

You have a month or two to make a decision and get set up. If you're going to populate it with a swarm, you might wait a little longer.

CVB

 

[masterBK]

Many people give up beekeeping within a few years when they discover it is not for them (bit like gym membership?) so when making your choice of hive consider the second hand value of the hive.

 

[Vortex]

There's nothing wrong with Langstroths .. if you want to run them then do so..

I on occasion (when I have spare late in the season can supply Langstroth Nucs).

If you want to go Poly Langstroth .. and I'm going to move over when funds permit then the best appears to be the Swienty..
http://www.cwynnejones.com/store/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=53_56_131
If you want to start by double stacking 6 frame nucs then the Abelo ones are where to start
https://www.abelo.co.uk/shop/polystyrene-nucleus/6-frame-langstroth-polystyrene-nucleus-hive/

 

[Anduril]

Cleaning poly, not a problem but I suspect those advising you differently have no experience with them. Nationals are usually suggested because it's what everyone else has and nucs are generally more available on national format.

Going down the Langstroth route you can cable tie the national frames of a nuc into empty Langstroth frames. Think of it as a box to keep bees in, I went 14x12 most of my association use standard national. Go with your chosen format as everything in beekeeping is adaptable.

 

[madasafish]

I have 8 Langstroths: 7 home built wood with insulation cosies and one poly. Much easier to work with as the brood box size is bigger and handles modern bees which have more bees in a colony (on average ) Check for "double brood" and "Brood and a half " to see the limitations of Nationals - which are fussy to make with too many bits of wood.


If you are buying new, Poly are lighter and better for bees. Period. Anyone who claims differently is living in the past - the distant past. Or likes the look of wood. Or painting and repairing hives.

 

[alldigging]

The poly hive that performed best thermally in a recent academic study

Source?

 

[Tremyfro]

I started beekeeping with poly. A jumbo poly...which take larger frames and a national ...which takes the regular brood frames. The supers fit them both. However, after a while it became clear that without help...I couldn't lift off the supers...or double brood boxes to do the inspections. So I have moved to long hives...where you work the bees horizontally instead of vertically. Sadly...no-one has thought of making poly long hives yet but there is a plastic long hive called a Beehaus...which you can add extra insulation to.....I have those now but still use the national hives for swarm control. If you are good at woodwork you can make a langstroth long hive.
There are so many different hives to choose from and I'm sure you will end up like the rest of us...trying different types...haha. Unless you intend keeping bees commercially...when having all the same hives is more sensible.

 

[Hebeegeebee]

Cedar doesn't need painting or staining. Poly and other types of wood do.
Beware that not all polyhives mate with others so you could be stuck with one brand.

 

[Willardx]

This is all really useful stuff. Many thanks. Many people at the association are recommending commercials but they seem impossible to source cheaply.

 

[user 6228]

Source?

Mitchell, D., 2016. Ratios of colony mass to thermal conductance of tree and man-made nest enclosures of Apis mellifera: implications for survival, clustering, humidity regulation and Varroa destructor. International Journal of Biometeorology, 60(5), pp.629–638. Available at: http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s00484-015-1057-z.

 

[Poly Hive]

If I were to start from fresh again and not have an interest in nucs then I would be going all Langstroth poly and that from Swienty.


I have many reasons for saying this and all are based on solid experience. The Langstroth frames once you are used to handling them just feel right and just seem to suit the bees very well. It is no accident it is the most popular hive type world wide, and just a pity the UK is cursed with so many hive types.

PH