I think the word polyhive was used and he thought the poster meant polyvinyl chloride, also known as PVC. Can't be sure though, you never know.
To the OP: Bees have a lot of worries: like varroa (most of all), other diseases (most made worse by varroa) pesticides and lack of forage, all well researched and sorry I'm not going to post a load of links. They live in anything from wooden cavities to brick buildings, straw steps, polystyrene hives etc etc. To my knowledge they can live a healthy life in all of these.
Never thought I would write this but READ up about this, then THINK.
Next thing likely to happen is you will want some bees, and they will really get you thinking.
From beebehaviour.com
""3. Usage of plastic frames, polystyrene hives, nucs and mininucs
Each year, several million plastic frames of various types are sold in the United States. For example, in 2006 alone, only one company, Betterbee, sold almost a million Pierco plastic frames. However, wide usage of plastic frames, polystyrene hives, nucs and mini-nucs dramatically reduces the quantity of propolis. My personal observation shows that polystyrene BeeMax hives with plastic Pierco frames cause the quantity of propolis to decrease by 75% in comparison to wooden hives with wooden frames.
Propolis provides several levels of protection. Firstly, it strengthens the structure of the hive. However, more importantly, propolis defends the hive from bacterial and viral infection, which can easily spread in large colonies of tens of thousands of bodies. In addition, according to an article posted on Syben, a UK bioscience network, "It is propolis that provides the bee colony with its immune protection system."
The article explains that "...propolis, a highly complex chemical package which can contain up to 300 different chemicals and has been found to have antibiotic, anti-inflammatory and anti-fungal properties." Propolis' protective properties come from the sap (collected from trees such as poplar, willow, horse chestnut and birch) that possesses antibiotic qualities that protect trees from infection. To produce propolis, bees gathered the sap, remetobolize it with nectar secretions, and subsequently carry it to the hive in order to share it with the other members of the colony.
Therefore, the decreased quantity of propolis in polystyrene hives or nucs, or in hives that use plastic frames, exposes colonies to increased levels of infection.
In addition, there is no research that shows whether plastic frames and hives contain chemicals that are dangerous for bees.""
