poly nucs

[rogerb]

I also used a bit of cardboard; cut to size with a 45 degree chamfer at the corners to take up the radius bits and it worked fine.
I have used them for a while now and am very happy, my bees tend to build comb in the feeder and that's a pain but it takes moments to cut out and your back working again in no time, they also eat the edges a bit here and there but that's not a worry to me, you can fill them in (put in a small wood screw to get a good key) or at £30 a pop just chuck them out and start again.
They are much better to work with than wooden ones (fewer parts, lighter, ergonomic…..etc.) and the bees build up so much faster and overwinter so much better. Good product, easy to use, works well, don’t expect too much.

 

[sparky]

mais---res sell same nuc going by pics eke same price

 

[Putnamsmif]

This may be a really dumb question but here goes anyway... could you use a poly hive as a bait hive? Because they're so light it would be easy to get them up into a nice high position, but I suppose even with some drawn comb and a lure of some sort they'll just ignore it in favour of wooden structures?

 

[Stiffy]

This may be a really dumb question but here goes anyway... could you use a poly hive as a bait hive? Because they're so light it would be easy to get them up into a nice high position, but I suppose even with some drawn comb and a lure of some sort they'll just ignore it in favour of wooden structures?

They are fine as a bait hive. I collected 3 swarms of blacks bees this year in Paxxnes nucs, all re-queened with nice gentle bees gave a decent crop and doing well and ready to over-winter.
S

 

[Putnamsmif]

They are fine as a bait hive. I collected 3 swarms of blacks bees this year in Paxxnes nucs, all re-queened with nice gentle bees gave a decent crop and doing well and ready to over-winter.
S

That's good, thanks.

 

[Madge]

... I prefer it to the Park "3 in 1" (National, 14x12 and Langstroth). ...

... I have a national poly nuc ...Bought from B.esu.pl.es.ie.

I can't figure out who the suppliers are. Is it possible to make the clues a bit more obvious (and why can't we say it outright)?

Kitta

 

[VEG]

Bee supplies ie


Craig

 

[brianmc]

I can't figure out who the suppliers are. Is it possible to make the clues a bit more obvious (and why can't we say it outright)?

Kitta

I think it's bee supplies .ie in Dublin in Ireland here.

The poly nucs they sell are Pa*nes nucs though.

 

[itma]

I can't figure out who the suppliers are. Is it possible to make the clues a bit more obvious (and why can't we say it outright)?

Kitta

The makers (and AFAIK only source of) the "3 in 1" poly nuc are Park Beekeeping of Blackheath. Google them!
Then look under Products - Hives&Parts - Polystyrene

The non-commercial ethos of the forum frowns on direct links to suppliers.

As I said, I prefer the imperfect Payns product myself.

 

[Bates]

Hi Bates, is that maths right ?
30 boxes @ £30 is £900, still same price now.

Yeah there are discounts if you buy 30+. At 30 units they are £20.50 a unit totaling £615. Would have saved us £285 .

 

[Swarm]

I can't figure out who the suppliers are. Is it possible to make the clues a bit more obvious (and why can't we say it outright)?

Kitta

I quite agree, I can understand live links to websites but asterisks in names is just plain silly.

 

[Madge]

Thank you, Veg, Brian, and ITMA for directing me to the right websites.

Kitta

 

[drstitson]

Bates - where you not aware of the upcoming sales when you ordered? surely the nucs weren't needed urgently given the time of year.

 

[peteinwilts]

Bates - where you not aware of the upcoming sales when you ordered? surely the nucs weren't needed urgently given the time of year.

I do not know Bates reason, but August was pretty crappy and the colony's that were created quite late did not build well.
The very small ones I am combining, but will be popping the ones with 5 frames in the poly nucs

I did the same last year with wooden NUC's and all survived. My wooden NUC's are either already in use or lent out, and for £22 a NUC, I might as well buy some. (already ordered!)
it is also a way for me to dip my toe into poly kit.

 

[itma]

... for £22 a NUC, I might as well buy some. (already ordered!)
it is also a way for me to dip my toe into poly kit.

Quite.
But do read up on the forum wisdom before putting bees into them!

Errr... like how useful the eke is to have around. £22.50 each buys the no-eke version in quantity.
I notice that the website isn't showing quantity discounts for the +eke package ...

 

[clv101]

I notice that the website isn't showing quantity discounts for the +eke package ...

That's a shame. A couple of days ago they were offering £7.92 off each when buying 30+.

 

[itma]

That's a shame. A couple of days ago they were offering £7.92 off each when buying 30+.

I thought I remembered something being there.
Clearly, the word has got round!

 

[Bates]

Its clear they must have made a mistake leaving the quantity discount amount on the box + eke package. Now seems to have reverted and I can put my mind at ease.

Bates - where you not aware of the upcoming sales when you ordered? surely the nucs weren't needed urgently given the time of year.

Yes I was aware but I spoke to him prior and said price would be same as what we paid. Hence my confusion. They were needed urgently at the time as we had filled all of our wooden nucs and we now have all 30 poly boxes and 50 wooden ready to winter.

 

[alanf]

I can't figure out who the suppliers are. Is it possible to make the clues a bit more obvious (and why can't we say it outright)?

There have been some changes lately, not sure if it was at the time of the server upgrade or before. I'm assuming it was a deliberate relaxation, so I can point it out. At present the filters are set to pick up offensive words and a few suppliers such as ****** (Payne5). It was obscuring Thornes, Maisemore and others but more distant suppliers like Swienty, beesupplies.ie and commercial non specialist behemoths like Tesco and B&Q were being allowed because it was a rather blunt profanity detector only picking up specific words.

Some names have been relaxed and nicknames like Big T or Maisys are no longer needed to get past the filters. Likewise you can now type "idiot" and other mildly insulting words. It could be that Payne5 slipped the enlightenment reforms and will be relaxed when noticed. In the meantime some are either still assuming the names will appear as ****** or don't want to quote directly so they partly obscure it themselves and, as you say, not always easy to guess.

The reason to avoid commercial name mentions is that search engines increase the ranking if it's mentioned on reputable sites. Gaming those searches, either subtly by the company or crudely pasting it into random text using some far eastern click shop raises the ranking of the company. It can also lower the reputation score of the site if abuse is detected, but that should be separate from normal casual mentions in reviews or conversation.

 

[Madge]

Thanks for the update, Alan.
Kitta