Polystyrene v Cedar

[ericbeaumont]

mating surfaces between boxes tend to be much larger

Yes, and the Abelo is the only one to avoid that issue.

 

[roche]

Yes, and the Abelo is the only one to avoid that issue.

My experience is with Paynes and Swienty. I'll have a look at the Abelo design...

 

[ericbeaumont]

How long are you expecting to live Eric?

Well, I'm 127 next March, so at least another 30.

 

[ericbeaumont]

have a look at the Abelo design

Narrow rim is 13mm and the wider 30mm. I don't squash bees at those widths.

The Swienty (contract job, not my choice) has v wide rims and I found eight other design defects which increase practical work & cursing, and in my view it's a dog's dinner of a box.

 

[roche]

Narrow rim is 13mm and the wider 30mm. I don't squash bees at those widths.

The Swienty (contract job, not my choice) has v wide rims and I found eight other design defects which increase practical work & cursing, and in my view it's a dog's dinner of a box.

I think the density on the Swienty is higher than the Paynes. They have certainly lasted better. My biggest bug bear with them is the lack of rails for the frames - again a crushing issue. But they do interwork with National properly.

 

[ericbeaumont]

density on the Swienty

Yes, but more easily damaged; the thin top rim on two ends (curved, to match a second-gen roof that was abandoned after a year or so) are fragile and wasps soon get through them.

The interior wall dimensions and top bar rebates are inaccurate, so frames slop and bees bond side bars to end walls.

 

[JamezF]

I'm definitely not trendy unfortunately. I overheard my daughter recently declaring to my wife that "dad's daggier than you".
I can't keep up.

My daughter calls it "Hobo chic".

James

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

I'm definitely not trendy unfortunately. I overheard my daughter recently declaring to my wife that "dad's daggier than you".
I can't keep up.

My daughter calls it "Hobo chic".

James

my sister and family friends say I have only two sartorial settings now I don't have a No1 uniform - either village squire or farm labourer

 

[alancooper]

You need a proper scientific study comparing them. Peer reviewed too. There just aren't any that I'm aware of. If there are, please tell me about them. They've been around long enough now.

What? Peer reviewed scientific study of this? You could wait a long time. A practical common sense approach backed by experience seems reasonable to me.

 

[alancooper]

You need a proper scientific study comparing them. Peer reviewed too. There just aren't any that I'm aware of. If there are, please tell me about them. They've been around long enough now.

And there is a time for taking a practical common sense approach backed by

 

[alancooper]

And there is a time for taking a practical common sense approach backed by

Oops unfinished AND in the wrong thread. I must be getting old.

 

[alancooper]

Oops unfinished AND in the wrong thread. I must be getting old.

Ooop Oops right thread

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

and it's another week before black Friday!

 

[Antipodes]

What? Peer reviewed scientific study of this?

Yes. Sorry for not being clear. A scientific study (perhaps funded by a large manufacturer) into such things as the benefits/comparisons between wooden hives and polystyrene with respect to common brood diseases, mites, honey production and overwintering honey use etc.

 

[JamezF]

A large manufacturer (of hives) would be exactly the wrong organisation to be funding such research. Another beekeeping organisation with no axe to grind, certainly. But not anyone with a vested interest in the outcome.

James

 

[Antipodes]

A large manufacturer (of hives) would be exactly the wrong organisation to be funding such research. Another beekeeping organisation with no axe to grind, certainly. But not anyone with a vested interest in the outcome.

James

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-01-17/plastic-hives-save-hot-bees-in-central-queensland/8175952https://insidesmallbusiness.com.au/...ovative-beehive-design-wins-good-design-award

A practical common sense approach backed by experience seems reasonable to me.

I haven't seen the report from Murray, but it seems at odds with what I have heard. It seems much less. Most of the time I have heard of 35% more honey not 15%. See the articles above. Then again, a commercial beekeeper told me that the only beekeepers who got any honey here one year were those with polystyrene hives. So that's closer to 100% more honey.

 

[Antipodes]

What? Peer reviewed scientific study of this? You could wait a long time.

This one compared colony performances of honeybee (Apis Mellifera L.) housed in hives made of different materials including those made of polystyrene and those made of wood.

https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/1828051X.2019.1604088

 

[Ely]

I wouldn't mind a dollar for every time you promote the use of polystyrene hives on here. Every time there is a post from you. Stop worrying about wooden hives. It's a non issue. There is no evidence that there is any less disease in polystyrene plastic hives or that the bees do better in them but you keep on about them. Commercial beekeepers have had hives in wood here long before you were born, and it seems if they know what they are doing they get average of 100kg of honey per colony. It's the same in the UK. Beekeepers have kept bees in wooden hives long before you were thought of and have done very well. And the same in really cold places. Henry Schaefer in Wisconsin the US got 194kg (405 pounds) of honey in each of two of his wooden hives in 1927. You should concentrate more on improving your beekeeping rather than just "pop it in a trendy poly hive and everything will be ok".

They kept bees in skeps far longer than in Langstroth style hives. I wonder if beekeepers used that as an argument not to use the new technology. I love using wood and Poly

 

[Antipodes]

They kept bees in skeps far longer than in Langstroth style hives. I wonder if beekeepers used that as an argument not to use the new technology. I love using wood and Poly

Yes, those new fangled skep things. Clay pipes and holes in stone walls in Greece 5500 BCE.
https://www.evacranetrust.org/uploads/document/2949b8a5ef604548975b4b0eb7d9e738cd654435.pdf

 

[Garry R]

Having said that I use poly hives I should point out that the brood boxes and supers are bought in and everything else - floors, roofs, crownboards I make myself. Given the bee space accuracy needed for the boxes I don't feel that the skills needed are there for me but the other components are possible and given what those simpler components cost I think that's where I can make the biggest savings. Pallet timber scores heavily in the savings department. As an example a Langstroth honey paw brood is £32 which I don't feel is extortionate. Others may (and likely will) disagree.