P**nes Poly Hives

[Hebeegeebee]

You can cut off the lugs if you wish as I have done.

Use a galvanized queen excluder - and you don't see it when the hive is assembled. You do need to scrape the top bars down to get it on nicely though.

A thicker stronger roof would be better.
Yes, the mite board scrapes so you can lose mites as you take the board out.
Landing board doesn't need to be as big.
It's been designed to accept 460 x 460 parts which is sensible.
It's going to crush more bees with a thicker wall. However you get more bees than in a wooden box so both the bees and the beekeeper wins!
Hand-holds - where are they? Lifting 3 supers off is not as easy as the modified wooden National.

 

[theeggman]

Nuc. Feeder.

ITMA offered what I think is the best solution to the issue in post 39 in this thread

http://www.beekeepingforum.co.uk/showthread.php?t=23215&page=2

"Painting polyhives" if the link doesn't work.

I've currently got a 4pt. rapid feeder inside a 14x12 eke on a ply feeder board and it fits as though made for the job.

The reason I started this thread was to get feedback for P's. from users in one place rather than being scattered across the forum.

We all appear to some issues but the bees seem to do well in the poly boxes.

If and when P's are thinking of improvements/ redesign they may have some more 'hands on' info to include.

to all posters and thanks for keeping to the spirit that I hoped for.

Tim

 

[thebhoy]

I have two of these in 14 x 12...new this year.
My second one I got and had issues with roof not fitting onto supers.........they have made some changes, I am informed..slightly thicker. They have / are also changing the roof to make it thicker / deeper......I should be receiving a replacement roof some time in the next two weeks

Will update when I receive it

 

[itma]

I have two of these in 14 x 12...new this year.
My second one I got and had issues with roof not fitting onto supers.........they have made some changes, I am informed..slightly thicker. They have / are also changing the roof to make it thicker / deeper......I should be receiving a replacement roof some time in the next two weeks

Will update when I receive it

OK, well I can confirm this.

Visually, the super looks the same design. But the material is improved. And a slightly different shade of green.

BUT for those that fail to use a proper, framed crownboard, you WILL have a problem fitting the old roof direct onto current production.
Its only about 1mm bigger, but it means "a tight fit" has become "won't fit".
However, it has zero impact *IF* you use a real framed coverboard ...


The material IS slightly different.
Heavier (so denser) and slightly harder -- this is very good.
But, presumably from the same mould, it ends up a fraction bigger.

I wonder if the same issue might affect the brood box/floor joint which also was a fairly tight fit? (Would a new brood fit onto an old floor - dunno, but if it matters to you, I suggest you ask about it, or be ready for some scalpel work!.)

The "new" production can be distinguished because the new material is a slightly different colour. Its a fractionally darker, more green (less blue) shade of green...

 

[theeggman]

The last hive I purchased was a hybrid of old and new.

The bb was the old colour and the rest, supers,floor and roof were of the heavier material. The old bb fitted the 'new' floor with no problems.

Tim

 

[Bosveldleeu]

Just want to say I really find the hives great. Have been using standards but moving over to 12x14 now. Wish they did Commercials as well.

 

[london_flower_guy]

Thought I'd throw in my 2 cents here:

I have a poly hive from P*****. Its a langstroth
The problems i have with the design is same a previous commenter - the lugs on the floor which hold the brood box in place prevent the frames from resting properly, they do not hang/sit straight which screws up the bee spacing and the bees then fill gaps with propolis and or brace comb. Mine did not come with runners or an entrance block/reducer when i bought a complete hive (this was over 2 years ago now) I had to buy some material from a DIY store and make my own runners, which work whilst not perfect.

I do find my bees over winter better in the poly boxes than in the wooden boxes as I have both.

Personally my preference when it comes to poly hives are the bee box design sold by modern beekeeping

There's come with plastic runners, are super easy to assemble and the entrance block is very useful. Mine came with spare runners and entrance blocks - the price difference is also a benefit.

My P****s box has had bits of styrene chip off etc due to having no hard edges where the boxes meet whereas my bee box includes hardened plastic edges made from the same material as the runners and entrance block. This means you don't damage your boxes whilst separating with a hive tool.

as with other comments I also find it a pain when needing to feed the bees syrup or fondant that a standard crown board dose not fit snug on top of any of my poly hives BB. It also makes it look unsightly when it dose not all fit and look the same - I think this is the case with pretty much all poly hive designs and not just p****s and m**************g.

Id like to see poly hives with optional metal plated roofs - one of my student's once melted a hole in a poly hive lid after he placed a burning hot smoker on top of it without thinking!

 

[itma]

The last hive I purchased was a hybrid of old and new.

The bb was the old colour and the rest, supers,floor and roof were of the heavier material. The old bb fitted the 'new' floor with no problems.

If the problem is as I suspect, it would be a question of whether a 'new' BB fitted into an 'old' floor.
Without using a scalpel (or a hammer!)

 

[Swarm]

Any tight fitting parts can be made to fit quite easily by burnishing, using something smooth. Originally, some people moaned that the roof was too tight a fit and when paint is applied, the problem is worse. Mine was tight enough to possibly end up lifting the box below when trying to remove it. I just burnished the recess in the roof until it fitted perfectly.

 

[madasafish]

Any tight fitting parts can be made to fit quite easily by burnishing, using something smooth. Originally, some people moaned that the roof was too tight a fit and when paint is applied, the problem is worse. Mine was tight enough to possibly end up lifting the box below when trying to remove it. I just burnished the recess in the roof until it fitted perfectly.

"Burnish" is a word I don't encounter more than once a decade...

 

[Graham40]

I make my own wooden Roofs to fit the P****** poly national hive, I think the roof and crown board that comes with the hive (if you buy it in one go) a bad joke. They were the first items i threw away.
I bought feeders as well, they are utterly crap as the bees can get round the roof and drown so the feeder was the next to get a redesign chop the extending parts off and add a flush mount perspex lid, no more drowning bees.

Im buying a langstroth poly nuc and poly national super at the moment so we will see what they are like.

 

[theeggman]

Any tight fitting parts can be made to fit quite easily by burnishing, using something smooth. Originally, some people moaned that the roof was too tight a fit and when paint is applied, the problem is worse. Mine was tight enough to possibly end up lifting the box below when trying to remove it. I just burnished the recess in the roof until it fitted perfectly.

Thanks Swarm, it worked a treat, the roof now fits for the first time.
As an aside, when I read burnish it took me straight back to my cornish grandmother 50yrs. ago. She used to burnish the cast-iron kitchen range with a length of chain. It looked like polished stainless steel.

Tim

 

[IBeeHere]

The new poly roofs are now in stock I just recieved mine with the order today, they are thicker through the main roof area and have a larger side overhang total depth is now about 8cm. They are made of the darker green poly which seems denser than previous moldings, they seem to fit more like a conventional roof so a lot easier to fit on.
Only negative is there are still manufacturing punch marks on the underside which I will fill.
Overall a good improvement.

 

[karlbown]

Can you mix the P****s poly hive boxes with the ModernBK ones? Obviously assuming all Langstroth or all National etc! I currently have a Bee Box poly nuc and was considering getting a poly hive next

 

[theeggman]

Can you mix the P****s poly hive boxes with the ModernBK ones? Obviously assuming all Langstroth or all National etc! I currently have a Bee Box poly nuc and was considering getting a poly hive next

As far as I know you can't mix the 2 as P's are the same internal size as a cedar box but larger externally, whereas Modb. ones are smaller internally.

The reason I went with P's is that with a few issues you can mix & match the poly with cedar.

I await being corrected by people who have both.

Tim

 

[Finman]

I
Im buying a langstroth poly nuc and poly national super at the moment so we will see what they are like.

Are the national super good to Langstroth?

Langstroth uses "medium" boxes. it is 2/3 langstroth frame height.

 

[itma]

Can you mix the P****s poly hive boxes with the ModernBK ones? Obviously assuming all Langstroth or all National etc! t

I can't speak to the Langstroth side.



Payns national polys are standard internally. (So bottom beespace.)
Modern Beeking's national polys are NOT standard internally - they are top beespace, and only take 10 brood frames. They are national standard size externally. Made in Finland.

Payns and Beehive Supplies poly national bits do interoperate fine -- with the exception of Payns floor and roof (which would need slight modifications). They are standard internally, and both built to a 500mm square box external dimension.

 

[palmadoc]

Plastic beehives

Has any body any experience with technoset [plastic langstroth] and with langstroth sold by ab*lo,I think made in polystyrene.thanks for informatio

Palmadoc

 

[drstitson]

the bodies and floors of the abelo ones are fine. problem is the roofs with built in ventilation and void above crownboard.
however a MB roof will fit on top happily.
as posted previously i use the boxes with an eke and transverse national frames.

 

[IBeeHere]

I have heared that there is a new poly eke in developement for their national sized hive.
I hope that it will be on sale early enough for any fondant feeding in late winter, as it will save me modifying supers.