Plywood nucs

[pargyle]

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I have used long time as mating nucs 3-frame normal frame polynucs.
Build up is amazing compared to wooden nucs.

But it is everybody's own choice what they use.

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Absolutely right Finnie .. One thing we do agree on ...

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

Do they? Not sure about the dead out rate of bees in thin ply nuc boxes over winter ...

I've succcessfully overwintered quite a few colonies in 10mm Plywood nucs - not had one die on me, there's a very respected queen breeder further West who overwinters loads, many in the thinner ply such as used to transport nucs by the big bee sellers.

 

[Tom Bick]

Do they? Not sure about the dead out rate of bees in thin ply nuc boxes over winter ...

Yes they do. What dead out rate do you know about? I have never lost a colony in an overwinter nuc and of the five this past winter three are in full sized hives as they needed it.

If you don't set them up right then you will have losses. No one can account for poor beekeeping.

 

[pargyle]

Yes they do. What dead out rate do you know about? I have never lost a colony in an overwinter nuc and of the five this past winter three are in full sized hives as they needed it.

If you don't set them up right then you will have losses. No one can account for poor beekeeping.

My Nucs are mostly poly or double thickness solid timber so I haven't lost a colony over winter in these - but I know of a few who have using thin plywood Nuc boxes .. I suspect you are right insomuch as you would need to make sure they were really fit going into winter and the stores were well up together ... and the key is probably to keep them fed with fondant in the early months if they need it ... But, I remain convinced that thin ply boxes are not the ideal hive for all year round use ... although I do use them in Spring and summer when needed.

To be honest, these days, a better option than ply is 18mm exterior grade OSB ,, it weathers well and with a coat of preservative it keeps pretty near indefinitely - An 8 x 4 sheet of OSB3 is only £16 and I reckon with clever cutting you can get at least three nucs out of a sheet ... fastenings, a bit of glue, roofing felt and paint and you have a Nuc for about £6 ... even by my cheapskate standards that's good value - and a whole lot thicker walls than thin ply and a fraction of the cost of marine ply.

 

[SwarmCap]

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I have used long time as mating nucs 3-frame normal frame polynucs.
Build up is amazing compared to wooden nucs.

But it is everybody's own choice what they use.

.

Any chance of pictures?

thanks

 

[iand]

Great .thanks for replies.
Roughly what life span would be expected, 5-8 years???.
It rains a bit here

I made some ply brood/supers in about 1982 (most still in full time use), but my nucs are fairly young, made around 2004 out 9mm ply, so they hold 6 frames. Two boxes fit in the std 18 1/8" so fitting under a std roof if need be.