Poly Hive's?

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My Swienty Nationals do not have a runner for the frames and the frames sit happily on the flat surface and after now some 4 years of service there are no issues that I am aware of and I do not use vaseline or any other product to assist.

PH
 
rab - apart from the plastic runners overlapping the top of the ends the resulting lips on the full sized MB LS hives are essentially same dimensions as on the nucs which you know well. side wall lips are same shape.
 
dorsetb and onge did you go direct to the manufacturer if so what was postage cost like

I "piggybacked" my order onto my local bee farmer's (much bigger) order.

I understand however that if you order directly from Swienty that your order has to be of a reasonable size to make the carriage worthwhile (as you would expect).
 
If buying Nats then buy from wynne Jones. He stocks the Swienty version.

Lang, then look world wide.

PH
 
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It would seem that their is loads of people mentioning the lip for the MB hives.

I can't see what all of the fuss is about, they work just fine with less chance of water seeping through a joint and less chance of slippage of other boxes and lids.

I manage these hives just as I do my wooden langstroth components and a friends nationals. Makes little to no difference. and will fit with any other langstroth equipment just fine.

Perhaps the lip is not for some but certainly not a reason to be discouraged from buying one.

Paul.
 
ITLD,

the poly National from MB has the same outside dimensions as a the BS spec., the inner dimensions being reduced to ten frames from eleven (don't know about their Langstroths); the plastic strips on the MB are required, as the wall thickness is very much reduced at the end of the lugs (same as the timber version).

Yes I know. They claim this as an original feature, yet actually it is largely a copy. The original Nat for the UK market was just the same, designed to be completely compatible with wooden boxes so the beekeeper could do a creeping conversion rather than spend a lot going all in at once.

The rebate area is indeed quite thin, as it has to be to accomodate the uniquely long UK lugs, but this is dealt with by a good coat of polyurethane varnish on that part, as actually the main risk is bees trying to chew their way out. They ARE bottom bee space for compatibility, and the Smith variant is top bee space and has a full poly wall thickness in the rebate area. Same as MB, one frame less due to the thick side walls.

The actual naughty bit is that MB actually used to sell these. Then briefly stopped business and returned some stock(I still have the e-mails) and then started up again announcing the first Nat for the UK market. Clearly not the case as Swienty/Aulumgard, and myself, had done this design several years earlier. He knew it as he had sold it, and the new design was largely a knock off, although admittedly if you are going for compatibility and warmth then there is not much scope for doing anything different.


I am particularly evaluating them as a brood for the winter, so I have simply screwed on the floor of this one, so no problem for me with frames slightly longer than the body.

Only issue is that it need not be that way. I would send you a freebie of the other ones just for you to trial, but the bottom bee space on the Nat variant may not be to your liking.

I am impressed with the Paradise Honey items and now have more than enough poly nucs from them (converted to 14 x 12). They may be rather more bulky (the extra length) but they are very robust and easy to carry, operate, etc. All I need really.

They are a good and well established maker. no quibble aboutt he quality, just that by going down the route that causes compatibility issues they may have been too clever for their own good.

I DO have issue with fibbing to make sales however, as Poly Hive has alluded to. There ARE certain times you should not mix and match, and wood overhead poly in winter is the classic one, but to say they are not compatible with wooden gear in summer, especially the supers, is plainly NOT true, and in a meeting I was at several years ago when the marketing of poly was discussed this particular subject was dealt with, and it was plainly said then that it should be stated to beekeepers that the types were NOT to be mixed, as this would improve sales. End of story.

PH also seriously talk up their sales figs.....two different people came to me and told me how many PH said they were selling a year in the UK, and it was a vast number, equivalent to something like 15% of all hives in the UK converting to their brand alone annually..............

Against that I have never had anything other than the plain straight unadulterated facts from Swienty, and that I'm afraid is the kind of thing that influences my judgement. I have an inbuilt suspicion of big talkers.

As you have tried them and are happy I am not going to try to preach tot he converted, but for sure going to poly is the way forward. even if as a beekeeper YOU dont like the idea for sure your bees will. Just do it, irrespective of which brand you go for. I would always recommend taking a brand that leaves you wiggle room, where you have an alternative if not happy with the price or availability.


Regards, RAB

PM me if you would like a free sample sent down. ( Personal to RAB, not open house ! lol)
 
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I DO have issue with fibbing to make sales however, as Poly Hive has alluded to. There ARE certain times you should not mix and match, and wood overhead poly in winter is the classic one, but to say they are not compatible with wooden gear in summer, especially the supers, is plainly NOT true, and in a meeting I was at several years ago when the marketing of poly was discussed this particular subject was dealt with, and it was plainly said then that it should be stated to beekeepers that the types were NOT to be mixed, as this would improve sales. End of story.
Could you point me (us?) to anywhere that the rest of the 'mixing' wisdom might be found?

My guess is that you are indicating that a cold crownboard with warm walls, leading to condensation overhead the bees (and thus big trouble), would be the consequence of wood over poly. But wouldn't good roof insulation (as discussed on other threads, at length) avert that problem?
 
I am sure Murray will address your query but why oh why would anyone have a cold crown board.

OMF and top insulation are a partnership. I wish i knew who was teaching otherwise.

PH
 
I am another one who is completely not bothered by the lip, in fact I saw it (and still do) as an attraction. (Had three hives blow over or loose lids in the last week, the only ones not effected were MB poly Nationals strapped). I run 12 of these hives and regularly have wooden boxes on them, as I do now (feeders and Ekes). It works just fine though prefer to use all poly on them given the choice, and is supported by a good company. I looked at Swienty (but saw some poor examples locally) and the 14 x 12 options. They seemed fine enough but were out of stock at the time and didn't do a 14 x 12 option (very important for some of us). I am sure / hope that Paynes poly option will also be nice and will look at it closely at the National if there, however I found the MB no more expensive in the UK than most offerings and offered several beneficial features for my set up. Locally several are now trying poly 'Nationals', most are currently MBs with some interest in the NEW Paynes (myself included, it is British). A 14 x 12 (Cornwall supplier I think) is used by one beekeeper I know but haven't visited it yet, Swienty is used by one I know but he doesn't like them and much prefers MB which he also uses (all LS though). I know of no Polish or other makes locally.
 
Could you point me (us?) to anywhere that the rest of the 'mixing' wisdom might be found?

Sadly much of it is anecdotal and, in my own case, experience based.

But wouldn't good roof insulation (as discussed on other threads, at length) avert that problem?
Of course, perfectly fine. It is preferrable that this material be right on top of the bees so they can make the seal all round as they settle down for winter, but if you want to put it above a crown board that is better than nothing. The insulation overhead should be at least the equivalent of the walls hoever, as otherwise you will get any condensation there might be forming there.

We just leave a poly feeder (all are full hive top size, about the size of a super) on all winter. Those alone are just the most brilliant tool, especially for wooden hives. Adequate volume of food, hive top insulation, and quick spring build up, all from one bit of kit. Want to feed fondant? Put the wrpped and slashed cake on the top bars and turn the feeder upside down. no ekes or odd bits of kit needed.
..
 
"and in a meeting I was at several years ago when the marketing of poly was discussed this particular subject was dealt with, and it was plainly said then that it should be stated to beekeepers that the types were NOT to be mixed,"

It is common knowledge that those who go over to the Dark Side and purchase Poly hives are supposed to have their foreheads marked with a symbol denoting their treachery - this is usually carried out by the Guild of Wooden Hive Beekeepers (GWHB).

Once marked in this way and cast out of the GWHB, the Poly Vaders are not officially allowed to purchase or use wooden hive materials ever again, or even mix wood and poly.

Those who do are forever condemned to the BBKA website where they must spend the rest of their days searching for the forum contained therein.
 
(Had three hives blow over or loose lids in the last week, the only ones not effected were MB poly Nationals strapped

Wonder if the clue is in the word 'strapped' rather than anything to do with type? If all strapped and some blew over then I cannot see how being lipped boxes or not would make any difference. Ours NEVER blow over and we have over 1500 poly Langs in service. Only strap for migration and never at any other time. Way way too time consuming and too expensive. In mid season standard straps also too short. Rocks and or bricks on top do the trick. If a lid blows off then the rock was too small. Had 100mph winds here at heather time and did not lose lids or have boxes slide off (did have some slid boxes at one wooden hive site though, which was odd)
A 14 x 12 (Cornwall supplier I think) is used by one beekeeper I know but haven't visited it yet, Swienty is used by one I know but he doesn't like them and much prefers MB which he also uses (all LS though).

I am at a loss to know what there possibly is NOT to like about the Swienty Langs. Wonderful one piece boxes, simply made, no extraneous lips etc to slow down working, and lips DO cause that as you have to be more careful separating the boxes and very precisely place the boxes (sometimes awkwardly heavy) rather than get them near and slide them into place. The stuff about water ingress without the lip is a total red herring. It just does not happen and somewhere on the web if I can find it is a diagram of how the rounded top edges and right angled bottom edges on the Swienty (and some others) works as a water shedder, causing the drips to bypass the crack between the boxes. The oldest style Lang boxes, long superceded in most markets, were four piecers, and those had square edges top and bottom and rarely you got a small amount of water holding itslef at the joint. never enough to be an issue being driven into the hive though.

I know of no Polish or other makes locally.

Lyson ( pronounced WEESON) have UK distribution.......just that who it is escapes my mind right now. London or SE based outfit I think that does economy gear.

Just to be clear. I am NOT panning PH quality. It is very good, but they ARE locking you in with their lipped design, and know it.

..
 
all hives are strapped here (or should be if I got my act together in time :rolleyes:), bricks are not enough but one strapped wooden and bricked wooden went over, as did a poly nuc lid with brick. It was windy ;) In fact the strapped wooden pile was some silly heavy ply 14 x 12....go figure. The tall light MB stack next to it didn't, 1m away.

I am open to all poly sources and will trial more. In fact I am up for some Swienty but the MB LS mediums will come first (started that project) probably followed by some Paynes units as they are British (important to me). Swienty are not dismissed by any means despite what I saw elsewhere, I make my own mind up but there are now several good sources people can be happy with. I will develop what I have already and then support British suppliers first, then European after.

re locking into a design,yes happy with that, little difference to BS frames locking you into certain hives also. Can't use my LS frames in my Nationals. There are always compromises and locking me into MB was a non issue for me. They don't blow over :rolleyes:
 
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The lack of "interlocking" of the Swienty components in bad weather is the only disadvantage I can see with my hives, although the gap between body/supers is propolised very quickly.

Mine are on palettes (about 2-3 high) to save my back, whose footprint is a little bigger than that of the hives - the palettes are screwed together, as the combined weight then acts as a single piece of ballast and on the odd occasion a cow gets into my garden, they cannot scratch againts the hives as they love to do which I found out to my cost a couple of years ago.

Winter gear will consist of strapping the hives down to the palette assembly, making it impossible for them to fall over, then putting night storage heater bricks on the roof, these are incredibly heavy and dense. You can get them for free from your local electrical wholesaler.

The last item will be netting pegged down to each palette corner to keep the woodpeckers away.

We shall see how it goes!
 
We just leave a poly feeder (all are full hive top size, about the size of a super) on all winter. Those alone are just the most brilliant tool, especially for wooden hives. Adequate volume of food, hive top insulation, and quick spring build up, all from one bit of kit. Want to feed fondant? Put the wrpped and slashed cake on the top bars and turn the feeder upside down. no ekes or odd bits of kit needed.
Now THERE is a very interesting idea!

Thanks for sharing it.
 
In fact the strapped wooden pile was some silly heavy ply 14 x 12....go figure. The tall light MB stack next to it didn't, 1m away.

There just HAS to be some other factor than those given for a heavy hive with the same footprint as a tall light one going over when the said light one did not. Sorry but it just plain physics, and no amount of lips or no lips is going to save it if they metthe same conditions. no argument, the short and heavy one WILL be slower to go over in the same wind conditions, so there MUST be something else involved.

Paynes units as they are British (important to me).

Where are they made? Poly moulding is not a thing you can set up by yourslef, and last I heard the correct density could not be produced in the UK. They are a UK business yes, and a good one (was talking to Roger only yesterday) and may even own a mould now, but its where it is located that you want to know if you want UK made. For myself I have a frustration at the poor grade of many UK bee supplies, and the savage prices if they are not.

re locking into a design,yes happy with that, little difference to BS frames locking you into certain hives also.

It is not locking into a design per se that I meant. We all have a type of hive be it a Nat, or a Smith, or a Dadant, or whatever. It is locking into one manufacturers special variant that would leave me feeling exposed. With a standard hive TYPE you still have the advantage of several makers doing the compatible stuff and can shop around.

..
 
I agree the physics doesn't make sense but this is what happened. Just reporting what happened on monday as an observation. The only kit not effect was the MB poly, no idea why, hinted at it not making sense in the original post. Weather was quite extreme but far from the worst we have had.

re where they are made, that info I hope will come from the National Honey Show, one of the reasons I am attending for 2.5 days despite it being the other side of the country. I hope it is made here in the UK, If it is I am likely to buy some. If it just designed and sold here, still a chance, if all from abroad then the case is tougher...

re locking in one manufacturer. Your operation and mine are very different, I can easily add odd bits as and when I need without worry or hassle. I can use wood supers on poly hives if I need or make that odd adapter, or just turn a framed QE upside down ;) I have no need to rush through hive at a rate of knots with speed a non issue, our drivers are different therefore locking into one manufacturer is fine fine, I make that decision at purchase. All my poly Nationals are MB poly are compatible with each other though I mix and match with wood fine. I bought my first Th**nes cedar National over 30 years ago and still buy from them for compatibility reasons today (last purchase some 14 x 12 ekes), if I had bought from Steele and Brodie if could have been a compatibility disaster :rolleyes: just like mixing hive types (some of us run multiple hive types just fine and enjoy it, commercial operations may consider that a nightmare). We say these MB are not compatible with other hives or don't have various options but some of us are using them just fine everyday, in fact feedback from local users has been especially high. My 14 x 12 hives are nicely tucked up in MB poly supers for the winter, something else people told me couldn't be done (including MB!).
 
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Now THERE is a very interesting idea!

Thanks for sharing it.

Its simplicity itself, and most of us do it that way up here. Nothing special about it.

However.....it makes for another issue with lips. You cannot have any component, esp the one under the roof, inverted. So if you have the MB/PH lipped version this is difficult.
 
My 14 x 12 hives are nicely tucked up in MB poly supers for the winter, something else people told me couldn't be done (including MB!).

I talked to John Laidler at the honey show and that is exactly what he told me to try. We stacked up two supers,put them on a floor and measured the height.

The only issue I have with the lip is I find that the queen excluder sometimes gets stuck to the box above it. I have tried liberal applications of vaseline but this can actually act as a vacuum glue. I've stopped this by putting on a small strip of un-vaselined gaffer tape on one side.
I've rounded off the corners of a Maise-more QE. Does anybody know if MB's own excluders are any better?
 
We just leave a poly feeder (all are full hive top size, about the size of a super) on all winter. Those alone are just the most brilliant tool, especially for wooden hives. Adequate volume of food, hive top insulation, and quick spring build up, all from one bit of kit. Want to feed fondant? Put the wrpped and slashed cake on the top bars and turn the feeder upside down. no ekes or odd bits of kit needed

Now THERE is a very interesting idea!

Thanks for sharing it.

Agreed - now just need to find a poly national sized feeder - anyone?
 

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