New to beekeeping looking for cedar hives

Beekeeping & Apiculture Forum

Help Support Beekeeping & Apiculture Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
Status
Not open for further replies.

claudiagannon

New Bee
Joined
Mar 10, 2021
Messages
1
Reaction score
0
Location
Suffolk
Number of Hives
0
Hello there, only just starting out on the beekeeping journey so am looking for some cedar hives.
Are the Thorne seconds a good buy? Anyone got any they want to sell (suffolk)?
Thank you!
 
Are the Thorne seconds a good buy?
Yes - Maisemore Apiaries sell second quality hives too so it's worth checking both out - it looks like the big suppliers will be having online sales to coincide with the usual convention dates this year, so keep an eye out.
 
Hello there, only just starting out on the beekeeping journey so am looking for some cedar hives.
Are the Thorne seconds a good buy? Anyone got any they want to sell (suffolk)?
Thank you!
Hi, Claudia.

Yes. Thornes and Maisemore 2nds are good value provided you're prepared to fettle the wood here and there. 2nds are usually made from English cedar which has knots and is rougher than knot-free and fine-grained Western Red Cedar.

If in doubt as to how to put them together correctly, buy a first-grade assembled box and use it as a guide. For example, Exmoor Bees & Hives make delicious kit.

Frame 2nds from Thorne & Maisemore are also good value.

Another option is the Abelo poly hive (the best of the bunch) which will give you 40 yrs of lighter carrying and give the bees 40 years of greater thermal efficiency.

How far down the knowledge road have you travelled?
 
We put together both Thornes 2nds and Maisemore 2nds brood boxes last weekend. All panels slotted in nicely and both look great. Recommend both. Followed the Maisemore assembly instruction where you just assemble it all without glue and then bang the nails in.
 
Hello there, only just starting out on the beekeeping journey so am looking for some cedar hives.
Are the Thorne seconds a good buy? Anyone got any they want to sell (suffolk)?
Thank you!
Welcome from another Suffolk member (y)
Get added to Thornes mailing list to be kept informed about sales dates (from memory there is something soon?), I’m sure the other suppliers operate similar mail shots. If you’re around the Stowmarket area give Richard Martin a call 01449 720491 - a local stockist of beekeeping kit.
 
Maismores have a sale on atm go have a look.
 
Hello there, only just starting out on the beekeeping journey so am looking for some cedar hives.
Are the Thorne seconds a good buy? Anyone got any they want to sell (suffolk)?
Thank you!
Hedgerow honey sell Thornes and others get in touch with John he’s really helpful
 
I was pleased with my Caddon cedar hive bought last year as a starter set. It seems to be good quality and cheaper than Thornes or Maisemore. I used the Thornes YouTube video to help understand assembly though.
 
Oops! Good point: if anything, it should be called British cedar.
That is one of the unfortunate marketing points with 'second quality' hive parts, I think originally when the big players started selling them, they were just that - hive parts not quite up to their rigorous quality control standards, but if you see the pallet loads of flat packs on sale at each convention now, there is no way they can be making that many 'rejects' finishto meet demand.
It would be far better if they just called them something like 'economy British cedar' flatpacks (the 'economy' bit just to cover the fact that the finish may not be as good) I think for a while Big T's did market them as British cedar.
You think they would all have picked up on the sustainable 'buy local' aspect, especially as so many of the cheaper producs on the market nowadays are Chinese mass imports - easily spotted by the fact that many of the panels and crownboards are, rather than being one solid piece of timber are made up of multiple smaller pieces comb jointed and glued together. Also the frames usually come in tens packed in cardboard boxes (frequently printed with the final seller's details, just to confuse the scent)
The Hoffman frames are also constructed with the bevelled side on the side bars on the 'opposite' side to others so when mixed with UK frames, you get two flat surfaces meeting each other.
 
More reason to buy hives made from English cedar. After all, the UK moans about imported bees, so why not increase our self-sufficiency in other areas of beekeeping?
Cedar is not native to the UK. By buying hives made from UK cedar you are encouraging the planting of a foreign species (possibly in place of native forest) with consequences for native wildlife.
Probably best to source timber from where it’s native. In the case of Western Red Cedar that’s North America.
 
The Hoffman frames are also constructed with the bevelled side on the side bars on the 'opposite' side to others so when mixed with UK frames, you get two flat surfaces meeting each other.

A common initial mistake by a beginner when building their frames? So only when mixing with other hoffman frames from another beekeeper does this become evident?😀
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top