Poly Hive's?

[oliver90owner]

are MB's converters any good for national frames?

They will do the job. They sell them so must stand by their product. It is only a temporary measure, after all.

Anything is 'get roundable' if you are prepared to think a little about your particular circumstance.

Frames too deep for the box - make a temporary eke.

Frames too short for the box - hang them on long temporary top bars; fill in end spaces.

Box too deep for frames - fill in under the frames to prevent wild comb.

Frames too long for the box - use the delivery box and make a 'converter board' to fit the larger and have the smaller opening.

Alll temporary, no rocket science and all easy to see when you have the nuc in your hands and are panicking about the incompatability of the supplied frames and your hive brood.

Better to be prepared beforehand but depends on your basic woodworking shills and having the appropriate timber available to just get on and get it done.

Your supplier would likely have come across the problem before and would offer simple advice, I am sure.

So no real problem.

RAB

 

[johnandyrob]

I havent used the mb ones I just cut my own and drilled some holes for the cable ties. They are not ideal but they will do the job till I work them out.

 

[Black Comb]

I havent used the mb ones I just cut my own and drilled some holes for the cable ties. They are not ideal but they will do the job till I work them out.

Ditto and they work fine.

If you are lazy (like me) you can just cable tie (or garden wire) the l/s top bars to the top of the national frames and just accept you will get drone brood at the sides - not a massive problem. It's only temporary.

Also remember, many beeks start off on "standard" size boxes and then find when they need to run double b/b they prefer single b/b. (jumbo l/s or 14 x 12 e.g.).

There is the question of supers. I haven't used MB supers (I only use the nucs) but their site does explain that they take dadant size frames. If you use l/s frames in the supers do they build brace comb? - I've no experience of this so can't answer but it is a valid question. Also, can you lift a full dadant super?

 

[Poly Hive]

There will be Langstroth nucs available in Spring, I have put 6 into winter myself.

PH

 

[drstitson]

"When does the MB sale start ?"

you've just missed one - 5% off LS kit.


I've use frame converters (both nat and 14x12 frames) with no probs. (although fun fixing with feisty bees).

if making yourself (easy job) having the bottom taper a bit/staggered helps to avoid snagging the centre slot in the nucs. check clearances on an empty box before getting out in the apiary.

 

[herefordshirehoney]

I think there's another one soon hence why i reopened the thread (cant remember though as it was vat off last year from searching so i am making asumptions there doing a sale around the same time).

Thanks all this is useful info.

 

[tidymeup]

I am to hoping for a sale, could do with some more nuc boxes and hives.

 

[ROACHMAN]

Ive been looking at the MB Langstroth hives on their website and am a bit confused

Do the Langstroth hives take MD frames and not Langstroth

 

[Swarm]

Someone who uses Langstroth will give the details but I think it's along the lines ....

MD shallow = Lang medium

 

[ROACHMAN]

I dont think it is - MB shallow is a Dadant shallow I think ??

 

[Poly Hive]

If you want serious savings have a look abroad.

£64.45 for a poly hive in the UK which may or may not be interchangable with other makers product.

From Poland minus hive strap, £46.40

It costs £10 via my bank to send the payment, but over a five hive order that looks very cost effective.

Sale? Pah, think out the box.

Swienty are £58-80 for the same deal, so I think for next season I may indulge in some foreign transactions. Again...Critical to my needs are compatibility first, then quality, then cost.

PH

 

[Swarm]

Langstroth have jumbo, deep, medium and shallow, the shallow MD is the medium Langstroth. MB don't offer the Langstroth shallow.

 

[herefordshirehoney]

That's what i was after advice over - sounds like its a toss up between deep and multiple medium's both will have advantages from what i can think of.

 

[Swarm]

That's what i was after advice over - sounds like its a toss up between deep and multiple medium's both will have advantages from what i can think of.

I was considering a poly experiment and the Langstroth looked a better option than the National, plenty of arrangement choice. By using an all medium construction there is only one frame size, which sounds beneficial. That option would result in a split BB though, like brood and half or double brood, not a biggy but I don't like that set up.
Not sure about the jumbo, I suppose it depends on your situation and how prolific your bees are so I think I would probably go the deep and medium route myself.

 

[Into the lions den]

As I understand it an MB full body is what I would call a standard lang.
A medium body is what I would call a super.
The jumbo is, well, a jumbo.

The other point about MB is that the supers are not lang. depth, they are dadant depth. If you want to avoid brace comb it is better to use dadant super frames = heavier.

In the UK they call it Dadant depth, but then we do like to be different here. They are indeed the statndard size for super frames, other than those using full depth ones, everywhere except here. the very shallow ones are apparently primarily used as a comb honey super elsewhere. We also have a tendency to use some odd spacings. My wooden Lang supers are 8 per box and have 42mm endbars................and had I not inherited a vast number of them in a couple of historical aquisitions I would not have those now.

Also, be aware that MB poly's have a "lip" on the top and bottom edges. This helps to "lock" the brood, supers etc together but makes life a little harder for ekes etc.

This is a major issue and see it how you like, but those hives with the lip are incompatible with all the other makers of perfectly functional Lang boxes. it locks you in to a single maker, and then you cannot shop around. Nothing wrong with the HP product, but once you go to it you are stuck with it. ALL the other main makers, and there are several in several countries, are compatible and you can buy whoevers boxes you wish. I would NEVER EVER (bitter experience) buy a box with half check lips. Sounds a great idea, but kills compatibility, make management more time consuming, is prone to damage if plain poly, is a condensation point if hard plastic, and is nowhere near as secure a joint as one might think when hive moving.

..

 

[Poly Hive]

I cannot agree more.

I had one (acquired) Wormit hive which had the same lip, and it was a bloody nightmare.

I have been harping on about compatibility ever since I saw these boxes at Stoneleigh.

Keep your options open peeps, or buy them on the basis you set sail with saw and glue and get rid of the lip.

If you are going to do that, good luck but I prefer to buy a finished product if possible.

PH

 

[DorsetB]

When making the change from wood to poly earlier this year, I went for Swienty for the following reasons:

-Jumbo Langstroth brood boxes almost big enough to take a bath in, like a breath of fresh air compared to National frame size. I have (mostly) prolific bees, and I also noticed that the bigger BB's even made the lazy ones more prolific.

- Also allowed me to move away from brood and a half, which I hate.

-no interlocking lip, which means I bought a few poly supers, but am getting some cedar supers cut into "kit form" which I will assemble and finish over the winter, which work out cheaper than the poly ones. I am not too bothered about the thermal qualities of these, as they will be on the hives in better weather, and in the shed in winter, so should still last for years - ie, mix and match is easy.

-I did buy the MB Jumbo Lang. nucs however, which are a good design, but have to be assembled, whereas the Swienty stuff is pre-formed.

-Paint: I've used masonry paint, water based fencing paint, and bathroom emulsion, all good so far. Don't bother buying the "Special" paint.

- I bought the poly roof slabs, but also felt I had to buy the metal roof cover as extra protection, but also for those occasions when you will invariably put the smoker on the hive roof, as you have always done...also makes strapping down easier, and gives you somewhere clean to rest yor supers when inspecting.

That's about it, oh yes, and price was great, and PH (the man not the box) was pretty helpful, thanks PH.

The only initial downside was when I got them home and unloaded them onto the drive (large pristine white boxes remember), and my wife mentioned that it looked like a load of pikeys had dumped some mini-fridges in our garden... got them painted pretty quick, normal relations restored shortly afterwards.

That's about it - a no brainer really - warm, dry homes, like we all like to live in.

 

[Onge]

I also went for Swienty but the mediums all round. Very happy with them.

The only reason I did not go for the MB was the lip.

I have some MB medium nucs and I can recommend them.

Good luck with whatever you choose.

 

[johnandyrob]

dorsetb and onge did you go direct to the manufacturer if so what was postage cost like

 

[itma]

Spoke to Pains today.

They expect to have the very first of their poly Nationals in the next few days, and photographing them for their website is an acknowledged priority.
So, still not quite here yet, but should be very near.

The stated aim is to make poly Nats that can be mixed (somewhat) with standard wooden National kit. (so bottom bee space, etc - standard)
From what I was told, I gather (errors of interpretation would be mine) that the plastic BBs are best on their plastic floors, but plastic supers could go on wooden BBs or supers, and wooden supers on plastic BBs or supers. But I didn't get the impression that you could put a wooden roof directly onto a poly super - so to use a wooden roof, it sounded like you'd need to have a wooden super on top of the stack.
My guess is that the interface (mating surface) between boxes must be pretty damn close to standard Nat. I wonder what (if any) downsides that could bring? (Concentrating a lot of weight onto not much area of plastic?)

The significance (for me) is that they are doing a 14x12.
And the cost looks reasonable.

The material is supposedly similar to their existing poly nucs, but slightly harder and with better UV resistance - 15 years UK without paint (obviously more with paint protection).


I'm going to look forward to hearing (real soon now) what the forum thinks of them!