Maisie's poly nucs

[mbc]

The front page (under the nuc photo) still says "available 1st March" in friendly red lettering.
But it looks as though they could be ordered now.

Says "available now" in my browser.

 

[itma]

Says "available now" in my browser.

And indeed it has changed since this morning!

Are you psychic or do you stalk Maisemore on social media?

 

[mbc]

And indeed it has changed since this morning!

Are you psychic or do you stalk Maisemore on social media?

They probably read the forum and saw I'd made a mistake so changed the website to cover my embarrassment

 

[dickbowyer]

No clear plastic crown board?

 

[Bosleeu]

No clear plastic crown board?

I see no mention of it. I also wish you could buy it without the feeder, you may not need or want a feeder for every Nuc, so such an option would be nice.

 

[pargyle]

I see no mention of it. I also wish you could buy it without the feeder, you may not need or want a feeder for every Nuc, so such an option would be nice.

I emailed them this morning about exactly this ... Jonathan's reply:

"At the moment we will be unable to do what you have suggested as they are all on the same mould with no blanking plates, isn't it strange different people different ideas, we have been commercial beekeepers for many years and find the miller feeder about the best feeder on the market, you may be able to get something like what you require from Paynes Bee Farm as they have an inbuilt feeder."

I assume that what he means is that the brood box and feeder are from the same mould and as such if they make one then they automatically have the other ..selling the nuc without the feeder may leave them with a lot of feeders they can't sell ?

For the same reason as you (I also like clear crown boards) I don't want the feeder .. just the brood box, roof and the 14 x 12 eke ... but I don't really want to shell out for a feeder I don't need or want .. so ... hopefully they will find a way of splitting it down as I think they will have a winner on their hands if they do ...

 

[Hivemaker.]

I don't want the feeder .

As there is no choice at the moment the answer is to chuck the feeder out for the recycling lot, this way at least some good comes of it, and your doing your bit to save the planet, win, win situation... every cloud has a silver lining.

Alternatively, send your feeders to me and i will recycle them for you

 

[Bosleeu]

I emailed them this morning about exactly this ... Jonathan's reply:

"At the moment we will be unable to do what you have suggested as they are all on the same mould with no blanking plates, isn't it strange different people different ideas, we have been commercial beekeepers for many years and find the miller feeder about the best feeder on the market, you may be able to get something like what you require from Paynes Bee Farm as they have an inbuilt feeder."

I assume that what he means is that the brood box and feeder are from the same mould and as such if they make one then they automatically have the other ..selling the nuc without the feeder may leave them with a lot of feeders they can't sell ?

For the same reason as you (I also like clear crown boards) I don't want the feeder .. just the brood box, roof and the 14 x 12 eke ... but I don't really want to shell out for a feeder I don't need or want .. so ... hopefully they will find a way of splitting it down as I think they will have a winner on their hands if they do ...

Thanks Pargyle.

It's a shame you don't have a choice,and there is no crown board. Including the feeder I don't think it's too bad a price even so, and might get one or two to try. It's footprint should be smaller than my current ones that have the side-feeder, which I use less and less nowadays.

I suppose they will sell more nucs to commercial guys who are not that bothered about seeing through the crownboard and will leave the feeder in place most or all of the time.

For the hobbyist it would be great if you could choose between the feeder and an eke, and have a crownboard even if it's one of the flimsy ones.

 

[mbc]

The clear crown boards a la the paynes nucs aren't much cop anyway, I prefer a bit of polyethylene sheet myself, easier to avoid squashing bees.

 

[johnandyrob]

Have they brought forward the launch because pay nes have new stuff coming out this weekend?

 

[alanf]

Looks like a useful competitor into the market. I have been surprised at the number of beeks who dismiss full size poly hives but are using or thinking of using poly nucs. They even admit the insulation is a good feature.

I can see the commercial logic of including the feeder. Made in one mould, omitting the feeder would reduce the manufacturing cost by only pennies. It's more versatile than the Paynes box and a bonus over the nuc box Thornes sell. I could see it outselling both if the manufacturing quality is good. I see the nuc is not included in the show price lists, probably waiting to see reaction and initial sales before any discounting.

 

[pargyle]

As there is no choice at the moment the answer is to chuck the feeder out for the recycling lot, this way at least some good comes of it, and your doing your bit to save the planet, win, win situation... every cloud has a silver lining.

Alternatively, send your feeders to me and i will recycle them for you

Always a silver lining Pete ? ... I might yet do that !

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

I don't want the feeder .. just the brood box, roof and the 14 x 12 eke ... but I don't really want to shell out for a feeder I don't need or want

Unlike the paynes version where, not only have you no choice but to have the feeder, but you can't even leave it in the shed until such time as you may need it - it's just stuck on the side of the nuc like some incubus.

 

[pargyle]

Unlike the paynes version where, not only have you no choice but to have the feeder, but you can't even leave it in the shed until such time as you may need it - it's just stuck on the side of the nuc like some incubus.

Yes ... exactly what put me off the Paynes Nuc ... you can't even cut the feeder out tidily and slide an extra frame in .. complete abortion as far as I'm concerned. I really like the Maisy one - just being a skinflint and I rather like being able to see inside the Nuc through the clear crownboard and if I need to feed them an eke on the top with a rapid feeder has been my preferred method. Might just have to bite the bullet and stop looking at them ... either that or keep building my own pallet wood/polystyrene sandwich insulated nucs ... they work as well.

 

[mbc]

Have they brought forward the launch because pay nes have new stuff coming out this weekend?

What's this? Even more new stuff to tempt my pennies away.

 

[Erichalfbee]

I had a quick look and couldn't see anything
If you google Paynes Bees Mann Lake is at the top of the page....BTW

 

[Hebeegeebee]

Unlike the paynes version where, not only have you no choice but to have the feeder, but you can't even leave it in the shed until such time as you may need it - it's just stuck on the side of the nuc like some incubus.

My two original Paynes nucs have 8 frames and bees in them at the moment.

 

[pargyle]

My two original Paynes nucs have 8 frames and bees in them at the moment.

So ... did you cut out the feeder and if so how did you extend the ledge the frames sit on ? I'm sure there's a way but without buying one and cutting it up I could not fathom out how you could do it tidily ?

 

[Firefly]

If you google Paynes Bees Mann Lake is at the top of the page....BTW

As a paid-for ad - not in the real search results. Probably any search with the keyword "bees"

 

[Tim1606]

I have 35 of these all converted.
I used the part i cut out to make the inserts for the gap, i then gorilla glued them in. A touch of filler and a good sanding, plus i added a frame runner to change the bee space and make the frames easier to handle.