Rumours about poly hives ...

[For want of a better word]

Cotton!!!!!!!

over half the "icides" made are used on cotton... most synthesised from oil.

polystyrene has had a massive impact on the controll of malaria.. keeping water surfaces mosquito free

I like trees........... excellent product................

but can see no reason not to make beehives from polystyrene, it can be recycled, what worries me is the tonnes used in packaging and then discarded. Man is the problem as said before .............
I remember the JABBLOC factory in Mitcham when I was a joof, made many a good raft for floating down the Wandle.... huge blocks of polystyrene.

My first degree is in Environmental Science, it taught me to adopt a holistic viewpoint on the environment, and look at any product from cradle to grave.
True man has dumped / lost millions of tonnes of styrene balls, most floating on our oceans, but be sure it will eventually dissapear, as will man, but hopefully not honey bees, end of sermon!

I will be taking up Theology next?

 

[For want of a better word]

Rooftops?

I have been "promoting" Poly Hives for over 25 years.

The prejudice, as you are discovering is very deep indeed.

Yet if you said, I've found the ideal car, cheap efficient and ideal for my situation, and further in the boot is the best mouse trap ever.......

Someone mention path?

PH

 

[Hombre]

Rooftops?

I have been "promoting" Poly Hives for over 25 years.

The prejudice, as you are discovering is very deep indeed.

PH

I work with poly hives and I think that any one with real experience of them would have few if any prejudices. The problem is really with preconceptions. They have a lot going for them, and given the right circumstances I would be pleased to use and recommend them.
Unfortunately I can advocate them as more than suitable, but am not an advocate as I don't use poly hives myslef. I'm very much cost driven and use a 14x12 format that is not well supported in poly. My planning is based on making my own from plywood.

So, Poly hive, you use poly nucs, I know, but what proportion of your full sized hives are Polystyrene and what are the decisions that have determined the hives that you currently use? If you feel this to be a fair question . . .

I determined my format and construction before I had heard of poly hives and not being one to change paths easily, my bed is well and truly made and I am happy to lay in it.

Others realise that poly is the way to go as it's light and cheaper than wood in a lot of cases.

 

[Poly Hive]

100% poly.

I do own some timber broods and sups but they are used as extras and not as mains. I think I have four broods and four sups in timber. And some 18 complete hives in poly.

My hive choice is National as I am producing nat nucs so for simplicity I went that way. If I were working simply for honey I would be in Langstroth as it is the hive I prefer.

Both the Bee Farmers I have associated with who were working with poly have said they would switch over completely if they could afford to do so. Difficult when you have thousands of timber units already.

PH

 

[Finman]

.
I have heard that bees born in polyhives, are not accepted to heaven after death.

 

[drstitson]

finman

"I have heard that bees born in polyhives, are not accepted to heaven after death."

i understand from a piece on the news today that Pope Benedict is actually about to release a book in which he specifically dispels the long held "curse" of collective guilt from beekeepers who use polyhives.

It's all down to 10 little words reinterpreting a passage in the Gospels:

"Those who go poly are as virtuous as cedar traditionalists"

 

[iball]

Ah yes, the beek shall inherit the earth

 

[Black Comb]

I've no experience (yet) of full sized poly hives (only nucs) but from what I've picked up they are not always compatible with wooden hives so it is difficult to "mix and match".

I stand to be corrected of course.

 

[oliver90owner]

If the dimensions are the same, there should be little problem.

This thread started as 'rumours'. That is all it is, just rumours. Lets have some facts not feeble supposition from an obviously biased individual.

I like wood because it is easily repaired, constructed in-house, is robust, does the job, easily scorched to sterilise, relatively cheap (self build). etc, etc.

Poly is much warmer, seems to be good for the bees, should be earlier to start building in spring, effectively larger than a timber counterpart, lighter, fairly tough and durable, ety etc.

Both work and can be operated virtually identically (see the MM post/video, recently, of the 1930's beekeepers over-wintering with loads of top insulation!).

I reckon it is a matter of personal choice and, for one, am going to try out the full sized MB jumbos (after having tried a couple of nuc hives and found them perfectly suitable, so far.). Cost, aesthetics, nickability and other factors may make the choice for any particular individual, but rumours - no! Not unless they are substantiated!

RAB

 

[drstitson]

peter - i presume what you are meaning is that most (until this season of course!) are langstroths so are incompatible with nationals. there should be no problem fitting appropriate frames in each type of hive.

 

[Black Comb]

Sort of yes. Frames should be no problem but is it possible to intermix poly and wood langstroth supers and brood boxes?
For some I've seen the answer is no because the polys have a "lip" on the top/bottom edges. Of course my experience is limited so stand to be corrected.

Also, poly outside dimensions are usually larger because of thicker wall.

 

[drstitson]

you're going to want poly broods and wood supers if going down that route.

 

[Poly Hive]

Sort of yes. Frames should be no problem but is it possible to intermix poly and wood langstroth supers and brood boxes?
For some I've seen the answer is no because the polys have a "lip" on the top/bottom edges. Of course my experience is limited so stand to be corrected.

Also, poly outside dimensions are usually larger because of thicker wall.

This is partly true. IF the poly has a flat surface then you can mix and match to your hearts content as the ID, (internal dimensions) are the same. If you are talking about the poly that has a lip, then I cannot comment as I have never used it nor can see the practical advantages of it.

As for brooding earlier, I don't know where this idea is coming from but it seems to be mentioned by those with no experience of poly. As I have posted several times, I find that compared with timber hives poly units start later, and the reason for this seems to be they are drier. Or to turn it round the bees in timber start earlier as they are damper and feeding brood is a way of dealing with it. Whether that is right or not I cannot say but that was Bernard's theory.

PH

 

[JohnF]

I really object to paying ridiculous rates for 08... numbers)

Paul

You could try +44 (0) 1548 858747

From their page I have copied this;
"These hives are made from a material which now dominates the market in much of Northern Europe. Few of the major suppliers of beekeeping equipment in countries such as Denmark or Germany even offer wooden hives in their catalogues anymore."

John

 

[RoofTops]

The above number no longer works. You will just get a message giving out the 08 number - which is charged at local rates not a premium rate.

 

[oliver90owner]

have a "lip" on the top/bottom edges

Should be no real problem with the new National. If there was, a thin strip of some suitable material and some bluetak would come to hand very quickly, but those with the lip happen to be exactly twice the wall thickness of a timber counterpart, so the National timber supers should fit nicely over the lip (National) - that is assuming the top and bottom lips are equal in size?. On the lip for a timber Langstroth super seems the obvious position.

Not sure about the 'along the frame ends' wall thickness, but I would imagine the lip would be narrow as per the timber National hive - no problem with a tough plastic edging, but might be if that section was in polystyrene. We shall see. I would hope the manufacturer has pre-empted any potential problem areas before making the moulds!

Bee spaces might need some thought as well, but it will not really affect me as all my kit is top space.

I daresay there has to be a compromise somewhere. All about balancing the pros and cons.

Regards, RAB

 

[iball]

The above number no longer works. You will just get a message giving out the 08 number - which is charged at local rates not a premium rate.

So go on, what number does the 0844 forward to. All of my landline calls are free, yet 0844 costs up to 5p minute.

 

[pbh4]

So go on, what number does the 0844 forward to. All of my landline calls are free, yet 0844 costs up to 5p minute.

I use a mobile with a contract that covers all calls to mobiles and landlines and I don't want to pay any extra at all. It actually coats me 40p per minute for 08... numbers. Why can't we be given a normal geographic number as an alternative? I don't get what advantage it is to the company to annoy customers.

Paul


Sent from my HTC Desire using Tapatalk

 

[fatshark]

Part of the reason there has been a proliferation of 0844 numbers is suppliers offering them 'free', with the recipient earning 3.5p/minute ... http://bit.ly/dYLV1t ... with all inclusive mobile and landline packages usually now excluding these numbers I suspect more and more customers will get annoyed and take their custom elsewhere. I do.

I bought some national poly supers s/hand from a regular on here. They have external dimensions identical to a 'hivemaker' national, thick walls (40mm) of dense poly, marked 'Denrosa'. I believe they originated from a supplier in Ruthin, Denbighshire (with a standard landline prefix) and have completely flat top and bottom. I'll be buying some brood boxes to accompany them this year.

--
fatshark

 

[BobH1]

I use a mobile with a contract that covers all calls to mobiles and landlines and I don't want to pay any extra at all. It actually coats me 40p per minute for 08... numbers. Why can't we be given a normal geographic number as an alternative? I don't get what advantage it is to the company to annoy customers.

I use this site to find the basic rate number the premium rate line connects to. The good thing is that the company called does not know you are not using their premium rate number.
http://www.saynoto0870.com/