Paynes sale

[drstitson]

"Unless you intend making the joint at the eke permanent and waterproof, beforehand!"

no good - the eke has no access slot - relies on the one on the nuc. so ok for lots of fondant but not any more syrup than the nuc itself.

 

[Monsieur Abeille]

"Unless you intend making the joint at the eke permanent and waterproof, beforehand!"

no good - the eke has no access slot - relies on the one on the nuc. so ok for lots of fondant but not any more syrup than the nuc itself.

Issues with excess comb building above it? Or is the feeder removable?

 

[oliver90owner]

I've heard of bees building comb in the feeder. Does that present a further difficulty in forcing them apart if 'well adjoined' in the 14 x 12 version?

RAB

 

[drstitson]

i don't think it should cause any more problems than simply the extra depth of narrow chamber to have to cut comb out of.

 

[jimbeekeeper]

Just received my order for the national poly nucs this morning.

Although basicly as last years WPF, they include an entrance disc (entrance different to WPF ones) , clear crown board and float. £23 in free del (orders over £100) you can not go wrong.

 

[drstitson]

thanks for that - have just checked - mine appear to have a bag of fat screws but no entrance disc. must chase.

(It appears - direct from RP - that the very latest batch of nucs have the redesign. dec ones - and possibly early sale ones - are old style).

 

[jimbeekeeper]

thanks for that - have just checked - mine appear to have a bag of fat screws but no entrance disc. must chase.

Have look in all of the boxes, they might have put them else where? Mine where all mixed up.

I am missing 1 float but I can live with that.

 

[drstitson]

No - had to rearrange everything to manage to fit around the office. all double checked too. replacements on way.

 

[Swarm]

"Unless you intend making the joint at the eke permanent and waterproof, beforehand!"

no good - the eke has no access slot - relies on the one on the nuc. so ok for lots of fondant but not any more syrup than the nuc itself.

Fit another eke and feed syrup in a tray, stuff hessian or similar in the feeder to prevent wild comb.

 

[JamezF]

Fit another eke and feed syrup in a tray, stuff hessian or similar in the feeder to prevent wild comb.

There's a vertical slot cut into the poly at the feeder access point, so if you want to close the feeder off entirely it looks like you just need to find a bit of plastic or metal sheet to fit into it, flush with the bottom of the eke or roof.

James

 

[Swarm]

Yes, it was a piece of plastic I used in mine. I think the issue raised here is more that adding an eke does not increase feeder capacity because of that access point. By adding another eke it allows space for a tray, while stuffing the feeder slot prevents any comb, should they gain access but it also insulates by filling the void. I'm not a fan of the feeder slot design tbh, there again I'm not a fan of most feeder designs.

 

[Nic Rhodes]

I use a piece of QE in the feeder entrance but have over filled a 14 x 12 more than once , but bees fine, Just a waste of syrup. Bees will make comb in the feeder just like they will in a frame feeder if left in hive. If you want to stop it just block feeder off with a piece of plastic instead of QE. Never been an issue and no different to any other hive really.

 

[region2]

That's a lot of painting Doc - 3 coats of Sandtex on 3 nucs + ekes took ages...

R2

 

[mazzamazda]

Is everyone painting their nucs? I was thinking about just painting the feeder although I do have 20 so being very lazy!

Mark

 

[JamezF]

Paynes do recommend that their poly hives are painted, AFAIR.

James

 

[region2]

Protects against algae growth and UV damage...
R2

 

[drstitson]

Interesting though - haven't yet seen a photo of one in action anywhere that is actually painted!!!!! loads of apiary shots have pale green (or grey) boxes scattered about (eg RP article in beecraft)

 

[Red Bee]

I've painted my 14 x 12's with the Sandtex paint gotta do the third coat soon then all done.

Cant wait to use them!



The only thing that concerns me is using polythene sheet as a crownboard, the lids are a good fit & I cant see the sheet folding down the sides over the box when lid fitted. So when lifting of the roof the sheet will maybe come of too. Be fine when the bees glue the sheet down after a while.

 

[Beeline]

Seems some 14 x 12 poly nucs sold in the sale were the old version (rectangular entrance) and has no entrance disk and some, possibly later orders, received the new version (round hole) with entrance disk. (according to Roger)

Sometimes it doesn't pay to get your order in early.

By the way, when applying gloss to the feeder, does one apply a primer coat first then gloss paint or gloss (oil based??) straight on.

 

[drstitson]

"The only thing that concerns me is using polythene sheet as a crownboard, the lids are a good fit & I cant see the sheet folding down the sides over the box when lid fitted. So when lifting of the roof the sheet will maybe come of too. Be fine when the bees glue the sheet down after a while."

The supplied sheets aren't bigger than the lip in the box - or at least the couple i bought last year from paynes for my WPF ones were perfect fit.

But as you say - after a couple of days they're stuck down anyway.