Opinions on Second Quality Hives

[jignog]

Hi all,

All my hives consist of poly nationals of which the performance I am very pleased with. I admit I am a bit paranoid when it comes to scraping propolis etc as to not damage the edges. I am continually expanding my apiary and and considering my next purchases. I have never owned a cedar hive as I went straight to poly. I went to poly after reading the performance benefits but also as they are cheaper, along with the potential of lasting 30 years. As I am hoping to upscale considerably year on year I was considering a second quality cedar hive as sold by Abelo for £110 which arrives with two supers. This is considerably cheaper than a first quality cedar hive. My questions are as follows. Firstly, are they a false economy? Will they last as long as a first quality? Are they fit for purpose? I expect the odd knot hole but I also expect squareness and no cracks. Is there a catch for it being so cheap? I am considering Cedar mainly for its robustness of scraping, cleaning etc. Is there a disclaimer stating it may not all fit together properly when I purchase it? If its hit and miss as to what I receive in quality maybe I should avoid?

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

Hi all,

All my hives consist of poly nationals of which the performance I am very pleased with. I admit I am a bit paranoid when it comes to scraping propolis etc as to not damage the edges. I am continually expanding my apiary and and considering my next purchases. I have never owned a cedar hive as I went straight to poly. I went to poly after reading the performance benefits but also as they are cheaper, along with the potential of lasting 30 years. As I am hoping to upscale considerably year on year I was considering a second quality cedar hive as sold by Abelo for £110 which arrives with two supers. This is considerably cheaper than a first quality cedar hive. My questions are as follows. Firstly, are they a false economy? Will they last as long as a first quality? Are they fit for purpose? I expect the odd knot hole but I also expect squareness and no cracks. Is there a catch for it being so cheap? I am considering Cedar mainly for its robustness of scraping, cleaning etc. Is there a disclaimer stating it may not all fit together properly when I purchase it? If its hit and miss as to what I receive in quality maybe I should avoid?

Second quality is a bit of a misnomer. With frames it just means that quality control is not as strict so you may have the odd dud part in a pack of fifty and the finish may be a little rough.
With hives it just means that they are made from British grown cedar which means the grain isn't as tight, you get a few more knots and again, the finish isn't as good. You may get a few loose dead knots, but any warped or unusable part they will usually replace, no quibble. Never had a problem with I'll fitting boxes or ones out of square - and I have quite a few boxes [emoji16]

Sent from my SM-A310F using Tapatalk

 

[Eyeman]

Hi all,

All my hives consist of poly nationals of which the performance I am very pleased with. I admit I am a bit paranoid when it comes to scraping propolis etc as to not damage the edges. I am continually expanding my apiary and and considering my next purchases. I have never owned a cedar hive as I went straight to poly. I went to poly after reading the performance benefits but also as they are cheaper, along with the potential of lasting 30 years. As I am hoping to upscale considerably year on year I was considering a second quality cedar hive as sold by Abelo for £110 which arrives with two supers. This is considerably cheaper than a first quality cedar hive. My questions are as follows. Firstly, are they a false economy? Will they last as long as a first quality? Are they fit for purpose? I expect the odd knot hole but I also expect squareness and no cracks. Is there a catch for it being so cheap? I am considering Cedar mainly for its robustness of scraping, cleaning etc. Is there a disclaimer stating it may not all fit together properly when I purchase it? If its hit and miss as to what I receive in quality maybe I should avoid?

At last years BBKA spring convention I paid £15/ nat cedar brood & £12/ nat cedar super all seconds. You could get a pine roof ready made for £15.
So it's much cheaper buying separates, especially if you can knock together your own crown boards from some 6mm ply and get some varroa mesh for £2.50 a square and make your own OMF.
If I was you I would stick with poly. I've got a mixture of poly & cedar brood boxes and if I started over again I would go all poly.

 

[Finman]

.
I have never heard during 30 years that there are second quality polys.

Once I bought a dose which bees ate through almost in a month. Then after a while the seller sold half price poly nucs. Perhaps they were those same soft boxes.

To compare polys and wooden boxes.... They are in different series. Buy at least poly brood boxes.
.

 

[wightbees]

.
I have never heard during 30 years that there are second quality polys.


.

Just bought loads finny, broken, easy fix though.

 

[For want of a better word]

Just bought loads finny, broken, easy fix though.

That's Paynes cleared out then !

Yeghes da

 

[Finman]

Just bought loads finny, broken, easy fix though.

That is Ok, when you see the reason. PU glue and that's it.

 

[oliver90owner]

First quality from ‘Thrones’will have no dead knots and likely no live knots either. They will be perfectly straight, as well.

Their seconds often have dead knots (usually fillable, if they cannot be hidden during assembly), and sometimes some bowing on rebated parts (I screw the bits together, so they are usually pulled into position permanently - nails may not suffice unless securly clamped in proper position and nailed ‘on the tosh’).

I have no experience of ‘abelio’, but I expect they are similar. Some seconds from some suppliers have been reported as no better than thirds (nigh on firewood), so beware of buying until you know what to expect, is my advice.

 

[jignog]

I thank you all for your answers.