Paradise or abelo poly national.

[Curly green finger's]

Can I have recommendations pls, experiences and thoughts about the above.
Thanks! me!

 

[ericbeaumont]

Paradise is not compatible with standard wood National kit because boxes have a lip which interlocks with the next. Abelo is entirely compatible with BBS wood National kit.

Paradise arrives as an unpainted flatpack; Abelo is a one-piece box ready painted.

I mix Abelo with wooden Nationals; the Abelo plastic box rims are useful; the latest design is entirely satisfactory.

 

[Newbeeneil]

I have just bought 5 Abelo hives for a client and am impressed with the quality of these boxes compared to others I have seen.
One point that hopefully others can answer is what do people do with the 5 plugs in the crown board? I'm tempted to stick them down to prevent them falling out every time I remove the crown board.

 

[Ian123]

Don’t the new abelo the1 that leaks! have a rebate, are they still compatible with wood?

 

[mbc]

I tried a paradise hive and didn't like it so sold it on for a loss.
Having tried them and liked them if money was no object I think most of my new boxes would be the abelo ones.

 

[Boston Bees]

Don’t the new abelo the1 that leaks! have a rebate, are they still compatible with wood

The "new" Abelo hives currently on sale do not have a rebate (apart from the roof/crownboard interface), and some people have found them to let water in via the smooth plastic meeting faces of the boxes (the Abelo website acknowledges this problem so it clearly exists). Abelo have cut grooves into the frame runners to let moisture run out, so perhaps not an issue anymore.

Yes, it is compatible with wood.

The "new new" Abelo hive which will be released this spring has rebates on all boxes, so no leaking, but also has room for 12 frames, and will thus not be compatible with wood I guess. And some people really hate rebates given the bee-mushing potential of them. Interesting concept!

 

[Curly green finger's]

The "new" Abelo hives currently on sale do not have a rebate (apart from the roof/crownboard interface), and some people have found them to let water in via the smooth plastic meeting faces of the boxes (the Abelo website acknowledges this problem so it clearly exists). Abelo have cut grooves into the frame runners to let moisture run out, so perhaps not an issue anymore.

Yes, it is compatible with wood.

The "new new" Abelo hive which will be released this spring has rebates on all boxes, so no leaking, but also has room for 12 frames, and will thus not be compatible with wood I guess. And some people really hate rebates given the bee-mushing potential of them. Interesting concept!

It also says smear vasaline in between hive Boxes on the abelo site.

 

[ericbeaumont]

what do people do with the 5 plugs in the crown board? I'm tempted to stick them down to prevent them falling out every time I remove the crown board.

One option is not to buy the expensive crownboard.

Instead I use the Ashforth poly feeder as a crownboard, a syrup feeder, a fondant feeder (upside down) and a split board (take out the wall plug of the split box and use a sheet of thick polythene to replace the relocated 'crownboard').

Solution for your discs: glue in four of the five discs and keep the central one for feeding.

 

[Curly green finger's]

I tried a paradise hive and didn't like it so sold it on for a loss.
Having tried them and liked them if money was no object I think most of my new boxes would be the abelo ones.

What would be your preferred poly hive for price and compatibility to wood?

 

[Ian123]

It also says smear vasaline in between hive Boxes on the abelo site.

That’s probably just to stop them sticking. Sliding around should not be an issue with the rebate I guess, we used to do that with boxes that had no frame runners. It works for at least a limited time. I don’t think rebated boxes will squish bees any more than 2 flat surfaces meeting, it happens.

 

[Gilberdyke John]

I have just bought 5 Abelo hives for a client and am impressed with the quality of these boxes compared to others I have seen.
One point that hopefully others can answer is what do people do with the 5 plugs in the crown board? I'm tempted to stick them down to prevent them falling out every time I remove the crown board.

I stuck mine down with 2 opposing spots of silicon sealant to each one. Could easily remove with a scalpel or Stanley knife if needed.

 

[mbc]

What would be your preferred poly hive for price and compatibility to wood?

Abelo, I also have dozens of the old style swienty boxes which are perfectly serviceable but a bit more fuss as the mating surfaces need a few coats of yacht varnish to stop the bees nibbling them.

 

[Curly green finger's]

OK I'm wanting to buy poly hives but I want to spend my money wisely hence the thread.
They need to be compatible with my national hives.
I've been looking and we like the abelo polys but if there is better priced polys maybe even get more for how much I have to spend then all the better.

 

[mbc]

It also says smear vasaline in between hive Boxes on the abelo site.

I'd always be suspicious of any circumstances where I have to smear my rim with vasaline

 

[ericbeaumont]

I'm wanting to buy poly hives but I want to spend my money wisely...
They need to be compatible with my national hives.

Although Abelo lead to a bigger spend upfront the benefits of an assembled and painted box are significant.

You may be tempted by the cheaper flat-pack unpainted National Swienty, but my experience exposed design flaws that cannot be rectified easily: it's evident that it was designed as TBS and converted later for the BBS UK market - two of the the box base rims are about 35mm wide and bee-squashing and propolised boxes are inevitable. The box feeder has a flat base confirming it was designed for TBS and will need 8mm rims glued and screwed.

The CWJ website states vaguely that Swienty poly hive parts are interchangeable/compatible with National wooden hive parts. Truth is that if you're BBS, they're not.

As well as that, the top rebated box rims where frame lugs sit are too thin and bees chew them through, and excessive box width between those rims means frames have too much slop.

How about a DIY wood floor, new design Abelo boxes, a DIY crownboard and an old design Abelo roof?

 

[mbc]

OK I'm wanting to buy poly hives but I want to spend my money wisely hence the thread.
They need to be compatible with my national hives.
I've been looking and we like the abelo polys but if there is better priced polys maybe even get more for how much I have to spend then all the better.

Afaik there's only swienty and abelo poly with the same footprint as wooden nationals, if you're not fussed by having overhang then it opens up a bit, I think the maisemore polys fit the bill of value and functionality as well as any.
I've just bought a few commercial hives in poly from them (maisies) and so far I like them and am looking forward to stocking them. They came with national supers and the only difficulties in compatibility I foresee are that standard roofs won't fit and mix and matching these polys at 500mm x 500mm footprint versus 460mm x 460mm standard equipment will leave a ledge for rain to gather.

 

[Jimmy]

I have ~50 hives with roughly 80% Swienty and 10% each of wood and Abelo. If I expand and/or need to replace it will probably be with the current Abelo design.
The old Swienty design (Denrosa) was superior to the current one IMHO. Eric B's observations about the current Swienty design mirror my experience. Bees do well in them but they have some irritating flaws which limit both full recommendation and working life.

 

[Gilberdyke John]

It also says smear vasaline in between hive Boxes on the abelo site.

Only on the Abelo site? You can do it in your own apiary too
I think that's a useful suggestion for any hive as it reduces sticking together of boxes and it's not harmful so what's the problem?

 

[Curly green finger's]

Only on the Abelo site? You can do it in your own apiary too
I think that's a useful suggestion for any hive as it reduces sticking together of boxes and it's not harmful so what's the problem?

No problem, the only vasiline I use is on chickens legs.

 

[Curly green finger's]

All this talk about poly makes me think I'm going to stick with cedar national.
In comparison I can get 1 extra complete hive for the same price as poly abelo or paradise.
Its a bit of a no brainer really.