Nationals or think again

[Hivemaker.]

Keep the spur embedder in some hot water.

 

[Finman]

Do they also make poly 5 frame nuc box's national size bs, i see plenty of full size hives but have not seen nucs.

I have sawed with table saw normal hive boxes in two or tree parts and made nucs. With polyurethane glue you may glue foam plastic or with insulating foam.
It needs screws too. Polyurethane hardens with aid of water moisture. You may repair polyhives with polyurethane glue.

I have made missing wall from construction insulation board. It needs however inner surface what bees cannot chew.

 

[Hivemaker.]

That sounds like the best way Finman, you get two or three for one.Will make a few of these for next autumn.

 

[BKF Admin]

Finman any chance of a few pictures?

I fancy doing this also.

 

[Finman]

Finman any chance of a few pictures?
.

I have not pics.

I use them as mating nucs. They are warm and brood rearing is good.
You may add another "box" if they need more space. You may join them when you take a queen away.Very light to handle.

 

[Hivemaker.]

In Finland do most beekeepers use poly hives now, or timber?

 

[Finman]

In Finland do most beekeepers use poly hives now, or timber?

Boath. Like me, I have 40 years old timber boxes and during 20 years I have byed polyboxes.

I suppose that the most usual is ply+insulation+ply wall construction.
As super you may use single wall boxes.

Basic system is Langstroth frame and often in super low 2/3 L-frame.

 

[Hivemaker.]

And are most of these insulated ply hives made by the beekeepers or do they buy them ready made.Is there companys in Finland who manufacture wooden hives.

 

[Finman]

And are most of these insulated ply hives made by the beekeepers .

Yes they are and those semi professional beekeepers sell hives too.

Insulated ply hives are douple price compared to poly.

Prices Langstroth box:
Wood + insulation 34?
Ply+insulation 29 ?
Simple thin wood 18?
Polybox 14-16 ?

 

[Hivemaker.]

Big difference in price,and what you prefer for the bee's is cheapest,poly,so thats one good thing. How do they have insulated wood hives,is the wood cut very thin like ply, to make double walls. do you have any pictures of these.

 

[Finman]

How do they have insulated wood hives,is the wood cut very thin like ply, to make double walls. .

They are many constructions but all they are awfully heavy to handle. Honey full the weight is 50 kg.

Some have used 15 mm panell in outer cover.

 

[Hivemaker.]

This is too heavy,no good for your back, cedar is better,as it is very light. or poly. I used to use larch box's,these are also heavy.

 

[Poly Hive]

Wiring frames.

Take a sheet of blockboard to suit your frame size. leave say 150,mm all round and drill four holes for securing it to a work bench.

set out on it a brood frame and draw round it.

Set out on it a super frame with the top bar in the same place as the brood and draw round it.

With router rout out half the depth of the frame so as to make a snug fit when frame is pressed into the cut recess.

Mount spool of wire to suit your handed ness.

Thread wire through frame, using spool tighten and tie off to nail in side bar. Tighten to tawanging taughtness.

Using a 6v battery charger with wax UNDER frame heat and press wire into wax. For heather purposes I used to wire all my frames, including wired foundation for strength.

As for hive type. In the uk for sellability then National. However use poly hives eh?

There you go.

 

[Hivemaker.]

Good advice on frame wiring Poly, i no longer wire any super frames,and only use thin foundation for heather as most of this goes for cut comb,the rest is pressed,and wax harvested as well.
However if you are using a heather loosener and extracting from your combs good wiring is esential.

 

[Poly Hive]

"However if you are using a heather loosener and extracting from your combs good wiring is essential"

Believe it.

If you want to save on your CC then cut it diagonally and put one strip thin end in between two thick end frames. You will get half drone comb so not a plan to suit the honey show but it saves costs eh?

PH

 

[Hivemaker.]

Yes i have just used starter strips before,but now just wax the whole frames.seems more attractive for the end product,and fit containers better i find.

 

[James Fischer]

Finman said:

> In Langstroth hives we use 2/3 frame (super) . It is in USA medium size.
> It has 16 kg honey and full Langstroth has 25 kg. Medium is fast to extract.

This size box, 6 5/8ths high, is perhaps the best compromise for a standard
box for all uses (brood chamber, honey super). What we have found in the
USA is that 3 "mediums" provide exactly the same amount of comb space
as 2 "deeps" (the 9 5/8ths inch height). The 16kg (35 lbs) of honey that
a "medium" will hold is not too much to lift safely.

After keeping 500 to 600 colonies for more than a decade, I cannot
stress the importance of having standardized my boxes and frames
from day one. Drawn comb taken from honey supers can be demoted
to brood comb, and used to give a leg up to a split. Frames can be
assembled on a single standard jig, and boxes can be made with a single
set of jigs.

Everything gets easier with a single box size, and it really does not matter
to the bees one bit, so pick something you are willing and able to lift for the rest of your life.

 

[raysa]

If I wanted to expand would I be better (considering I haven't bought hives) to move into something else - Langstroth seems to be well though of, or stick with Nationals (which are v popular so they must be okay) Does it get too complicated having 2 set ups?

Going back to this original question, I would try to avoid having two different hive types in the same apiary, except perhaps having 14x12 brood chambers alongside your existing nationals.

They are exactly the same except for the depth, so all the other bits - supers, floors, crown boards, rooves, etc, are interchangeable. And if you later decide you like the bigger 14x12, it is very easy to change your existing ones over.

Ray

 

[BKF Admin]

Is a 14x12 the same size as a national brood box plus an eke?

 

[raysa]

Is a 14x12 the same size as a national brood box plus an eke?

Yes. (assuming the right eke! eg the 14x12 eke advertised by Thornes). Easy enough to make.

Ray