Pa*nes Poly National

[Queens59]

Hi All, received one of the above for my birthday and have now assembled it - but we have noticed that the supers slide over each other rather too easily - rather than sitting in a slot etc.

We were thinking that we could drill into the corners (carefully) and insert dowels to one super to ensure that they are firmly joined...

Your thoughts would be appreciated,,,what have we missed, are there any drawbacks etc...Thanks in advance...

 

[Swarm]

Queens, definitely not. You will have weight in that shallow box when frames are added and the weight will increase with bees and honey. Trust me, you may find yourself struggling to remove it later on. If you do, just a tip, look for the area below the thinner central 'pillars', there is a convenient gap that guides your hive tool quite nicely.

 

[Davelin]

Queens, definitely not. You will have weight in that shallow box when frames are added and the weight will increase with bees and honey. Trust me, you may find yourself struggling to remove it later on. If you do, just a tip, look for the area below the thinner central 'pillars', there is a convenient gap that guides your hive tool quite nicely.

It will be stuck down well enough once in use; you will need a strap round the hive anyway and that will hold it in place.
They can be difficult to remove when stuck without making it any harder.

 

[Madge]

If you want something with a slot then you should look at the MB poly hives but I don't really like them - squashed bees - and that problem will be worse when using dowels. The only advantage of a slotted or lipped fit between boxes is when moving hives And I don't think it's worth it just for that.

 

[Cazza]

Swarm is absolutely spot on. They are fine as they are. They don't slide about
in practise.
I bet you would live to regret any type of fixings.
Mellifere Crofter's experience with MB poly hives is also the same as mine. Prefer the Paynes version.
Cazza

 

[Queens59]

Yes, we have a few of the MB and they do sit together quite firmly which is why the new boxes were a bit of a shock...but I will trust in the forum and leave them as they are...

 

[itma]

Paynes boxes are joined together in the same way as wooden national boxes are!

I'd suggest that you might sort out a proper (framed) clear coverboard before putting bees in the hive.
I don't like the flimsy thing sitting on the frame topbars any more than I like QXs sitting direct onto the topbars ... which reminds me, I suggest that you might sort out a proper (framed) QX before putting supers on the hive!


The bees seem to do pretty well in Paynes boxes. I like them too, not least because they are inexpensive!
However, if you are used to running a National as brood-and-a-half (some people do!), then you may want to modify the floor corners so that you could, should you wish, put the half under the brood. Same goes for if you are used to putting wet supers under the brood for scavenge cleaning.
Paynes floor (unmodified) only fits to wooden boxes or Paynes broods - not Paynes supers!