Poly hive prices in Uk and Finland

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My last order from Finland was for a pallet of brood boxes. Not exactly a 2-3 hive order

Yes but you would get a decent price (or should have done). Can be a little problematical as many of the Finnish ones are a little different with variants that lock you in and give compatibility issues. That's is something I avoid at all costs as it makes one vulnerable to them knowing they do not need to be competitive..
 
Not really. Langstroth is probably most popular but the Dadant Blatt is also widely used.

Then you have local variants in almost every country....often called the National.......but their own National, not the same as ours....and there is Voirnot, Layens, Lav Normal........and so it goes on. BUT, in each country there is generally one dominant international standard hive and one dominant domestic type. Stock holding easy.

The issue of scale, and the density of larger beekeepers helps, but also the fact most Europeans are very content to shop around and buy from non domestic suppliers. In the UK fora I have been slated for advocating this as if it almost makes you some kind of traitor. Competition for both suppliers and clients keeps things sharp. However, we are the architects of our own demise in the UK, and possibly Ireland too. The way we want things COSTS us big time.

There are so many hive patterns in use here that it is almost considered funny elsewhere....with some justification.......and the average UK beekeeper has six hives, strip out the big boys and that drops to four. In other countries its generally a good bit more, so orders are larger and economies of scale come into play. There are also beekeeping co-operatives that bulk source for their members, but that would struggle to work here due to disagreement on the spec of what to buy. 10 beekeepers in a room and the minimum number of opinions is 11.

Until the UK smaller scale beekeepers stop wanting their own pet hive type and cannot settle on at most say 3 types, than it will be a permanent situation. Its the high cost of order servicing and stock preparation and holding that costs the big money. I can pretty well guarantee that UK suppliers are not making big money.

Agreed. When I worked for a living, I spent a lot of time helping businesses rationalise product and service strategies. It proved possible to cut 20% out of overhead costs by rationalisation AND give betetr service.


UK beekeeping - in my view - lives in a timewarp around the 1940s- uses virtually no scientific input into how bees are kept and is out of date.

Personally I blame the BBKA who should be setting an example of how to do things.. instead the opposite is largely true based on their magazine and its articles.

As evidence - see insulation, matchsticks and hive ventilation..
 
Rather than dismissing this price difference we should be asking why in a free economy we are still paying twice as much in the UK as the rest of Europe for bee hives and other products? It doesn't cost that much to bring them across the channel.
UK is a rip off for many things..

Agree on that! Been like that for as long as I can recall. Exchange rate no excuse in my book.:mad:
 
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What about this smoker, as GBP

Looks same as product in India http://www.hitechnaturalproduct.com/bee-smoker-440987.html

UK price £ 34 shop A
UK Shop B £23

in Finland £ 17
Australia £ 24

USA, Amazon com £ 20

In Poland £ 11.4 .........http://www.sklep.apismart.eu/produc...-nierdzewny-okragly-wys-24-5-cm-promocja.html

Smoker.jpg
 
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Finnish frames come from Estonia.

It needs tight quality control that wood has no knots.
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But but

Rabbit trap in Amazon.uk £ 20
In Finland same looking trap £ 57 in hunting shop.

I have wild rabbits in my Helsinki home yard
 
Economising on smokers is a big error.

That one looks like a far east copy of a Mann Lake one..which is very similar to a Dadant.

If they DONT have the wire guards UNDER the barrel....and this one and the Mann Lake don't....they are lethal to a poly hive even if just set down on top very briefly.

We used Mann Lake ones for one season only before returning to the Dadant ones, and still have the circular melted depressions in some of the hives lids to show for it....impossible to closely watch what 9 or 10 people do with their smokers that was ok the season before.

The UK price for the big beast Dadants...our preferred smoker....are eye watering. Again an association option would be to buy them by the case (12), collect them from certain continental based traders at Tradex, and get them for about 20 quid, or less.

The other ones shown earlier in this thread seem to be a copy of the European Rauchboy smoker.....not one we liked at all, and as with all copies the savings can be on material spec, not just cheaper labour in Asia.
 
Economising on smokers is a big error.

That one looks like a far east copy of a Mann Lake one..which is very similar to a Dadant.

It is, a friend bought one and was bragging about how little he had paid. The tab for opening the lid tore off second time he used as lid was stuck with tarry deposits. It is not well made.

Not sure if anyone has found similar but the smaller smokers don't burn some fuels well. My large Dadant burns wood shavings a dream, (tarry deposits aside) but my smaller one struggles to burn the same fuel.
 
Not sure if anyone has found similar but the smaller smokers don't burn some fuels well. My large Dadant burns wood shavings a dream, (tarry deposits aside) but my smaller one struggles to burn the same fuel.

Select good quality rotten birch as fuel.

Tar comes from bad fuel. The more smoke, the more tar.
Tar is cooled condensated smoke.

Smaller smokers work splended.
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Wood shavings is a bad idea. But cones and lawn grass are terrible.
 
Hard to locate rotten birch in sufficient quantity over here Finman.
I recall Finland being heavily forested with Birch trees.
Not using wood shavings again. As you saythere is just too much tar produced.
 
Hard to locate rotten birch in sufficient quantity over here Finman.
I recall Finland being heavily forested with Birch trees.
Not using wood shavings again. As you saythere is just too much tar produced.

Lots of rotten birch in my garden..

I find a tin can insert inside the smoker - with holes of course and a wire handle - makes lighting, cleaning and general burnability much easier..

I have a burner similar to that ebay one - now 6 years old. Still going.. Pop rivet repairs in places.
 

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