poly or wooden hives?

[whoosling]

Probably been asked countless times but I'm thinking of buying a poly hive, what do you people think of them, better or worse than wooden? I find lifting hard going and am hoping poly will prove lighter to manipulate.

 

[theeggman]

If you type 'poly vs wood' into the G oogle search box at the top left corner of the screen you will get dozens of previous threads on the subject to read.

Why re-invent the wheel?

Tim.

 

[oliver90owner]

Lighter than timber but not appreciably. Think here when are they heaviest and what is the most of that weight.

Other,far more important, things to consider other than weight..

 

[TryingToLetThemBee]

The great advantage if you are new (not sure about you; know I am) is they are MUCH more forgiving aka it's harder to harm the bees.

 

[Erichalfbee]

I have three poly and one wood.
The insulation of the poly is better and my poly bees seem to do better in them.
They are a bugger to clean though....boxes, not bees
This year I am getting another nuc of local bees which will go into a wooden hive and husband is making a derekm jacket for them.

 

[Itchy]

I have both, prefer wood for lots of reasons

 

[Swarm]

If you are trying to find a lighter option, I'd advise the swienty option because they take 10 frames and they also have a very good hand grip. I'd imagine you would struggle with the design of the paynes, which are 'finger tip lifting' jobs. and because of this fact are no easier to lift than wooden ones.

 

[Jimmys Mum]

I'm happy with the combination of cedar hives and poly nucs. Great for building up small colonies.

 

[Erichalfbee]

If you are trying to find a lighter option, I'd advise the swienty option because they take 10 frames and they also have a very good hand grip. I'd imagine you would struggle with the design of the paynes, which are 'finger tip lifting' jobs. and because of this fact are no easier to lift than wooden ones.

Then there's Modern Beekeeping
I really really like them. I like the way they lock together ........I HATE the fact that there has been a promised 14 x 12 for nearly THREE seasons.

MB are you watching this thread?

 

[sipa]

No doubt about it, the current poly offerings are ugly, and all have some design issues of one sort or another.

Wood just "feels & looks nicer" somehow.

But, Poly is great for the bees. Dry, warm & cosy. They use less stores and overwinter well, our losses are minimal. Spring build up is much faster in poly too.

I can't recommend them highly enough.

 

[Tom Bick]

Am I right in thinking Bayer produces an awful lot of polystyrene that goes into polystyrene hives? But then it could come from other producers.

 

[Alabamaeee]

I have both P@ynes and the new Sw1nty 14x12.

P@ - Poly is much softer than SW, roofs are very tight and tend to get stuck.
BB locks into floor with 4 lugs on the corners, secure, but difficult to separate single handed if you want to change them.

Big landing board - great for OSR bees but awkward when moving them.

Plastic entrance block. Also like their Nuc which can take National or 14x12 frames.


Sw1 - Same outer dimensions as wooden National so can use wooden floor and roof if you prefer.

Slight problem with frames IMO. Gap between end of lugs and wall of BB is too wide and if not careful frames can overlap when pushed back. I have added a 2mm aluminium strip to each side of the BB which has solved the problem.

Cleaning is different! To sterilise the hive you need to dip it in bleach solution for about 20 mins.

Poly also requires a little more care when handling. Jamming a hive tool in the corner of a hive and levering up the super will probably damage the poly. Best to use a good thin hive tool and ease it in to each corner gently to break the seal before removing a super.

I really like the poly hives. The bees came through the winter with lots of stores left, both this year and last.

My preference is the Sw1enty. Have not tried any other poly hives as I don't think any other manufacturer makes 14x14 in poly.

 

[Finman]

I h


Cleaning is different! To sterilise the hive you need to dip it in bleach solution for about 20 mins.

t.

It does not go that way. ...20 min!

I have a shallow wide plastic pool, 4 inch deep. I put there hot lye water 3% and brush side after side. You see how fast poo loosens. It does not take many minutes.

If the box is not very bad, I spray Killitbang on surface and after a while I spray it with garden host.

 

[Finman]

Lighter than timber but not appreciably. Think here when are they heaviest and what is the most of that weight.

Other,far more important, things to consider other than weight..

Weight is very important advantage when I migrate hives.

When I lift alone 2 brood box, it is 30 lbs lighter than wooden boxes
Plywood is horribly heavy.

 

[whoosling]

Thanks for all the answers, have 2 wooden so thought I might give poly a try, have looked at the p..... are they top or bottom bee space? do the others all mix and match with the wooden ones as p...... says theirs do?

 

[Finman]

.
I have 25 y old poly boxes and I use them with 45 y old wooden boxes. Watch out bee space in different boxes.

 

[Hivemaker.]

Lighter than timber but not appreciably.

Not much difference in weight, an empty Paynes standard national poly deep weighs only 1lb less than a cedar standard deep.

 

[Finman]

Not much difference in weight, an empty Paynes standard national poly deep weighs only 1lb less than a cedar standard deep.

Poly langstroth weights 1000g . I wonder what are the properties of wooden box if the weight is almost same...but my Pine wooden box is 9 kg (moisture too)

I have followed again London temperatures. Not much over 15C. Insulation is A big thing in that Weather.

Yeah...I have just now poly boxes and electrict heaters on bottoms. It helps in build up.

 

[oliver90owner]

Not much difference in weight, an empty Paynes standard national poly deep weighs only 1lb less than a cedar standard deep.

Yeah, that.

I cannot see how a timber (cedar) deep could weigh 6 1/2 kg more than a poly.

One only needs to check out the densities and relative thickness of each to realise the timber ones must be water logged or something. Ply might be a different matter, but cedar is relatively less dense. On top of that, my poly accomodates one less frame, so need to compare like with like. Some poly, of course, accommoodates a similar number. As I say, compare like with like or take differences into consideration.

 

[Finman]

.
But weight....
Here numerous professionals have moved to use medium boxes because of the weight. And many ARE moving.

Full medium honey box weight is 16 kg and Langstroth about 25-28 kg.

3 mediums works as well as a brood as 2 langstroths. ...in skillfull hands