Which poly hive?

[itma]

Bhs hives are only £135. The hive package includes a thick insulated gabled roof, with open mesh floor, a jumbo (14x12) brood box, 5 metre hive strap, plastic queen excluder, 11 hoffman spacing frames and foundation per lift, varroa inspection tray, entrance reducer and inner cover. Not that expensive & my bees are happy in them.

I wasn't comparing the two I was giving details of the poly hives I use which the op asked for, not comparing prices, I find them great hives, & the package does actually include a wired QE & foundation. & you can buy supers individually as with any part of the hive

The £135 package has no supers.
Does it really include a QX?
Or does that only come when you include one or more supers in your package?


You seem uncertain as to the type of QX supplied.
The QX pictured on the BHS website (£7.50) does look very much like Thornes plastic "XP" QX which they sell for just £4.20 (not even in the sale) ...

 

[jonnybeegood]

The £135 package has no supers.
Does it really include a QX?
Or does that only come when you include one or more supers in your package?


You seem uncertain as to the type of QX supplied.
The QX pictured on the BHS website (£7.50) does look very much like Thornes plastic "XP" QX which they sell for just £4.20 (not even in the sale) ...

I posted the type of poly hive i use. & the cost as asked for by helen, if you want to analyse everything then contact both companies & find out. I got wired QE's with my 3 hives INCLUDED. Am i pickjng fault with paynes hives? No. I think the decision is up to Helen not you.

 

[itma]

... I got wired QE's with my 3 hives INCLUDED. ...

It might be helpful if you were to say whether or not your package included supers?

 

[jonnybeegood]

It might be helpful if you were to say whether or not your package included supers?

If Helen needs to know that i'm sure she will ask as it is her i 'm replyng to in my original post, not yourself.

 

[beehive1234]

Just wondered what you think of these?
http://www.honingraat.co.uk/

 

[theeggman]

If Helen needs to know that i'm sure she will ask as it is her i 'm replyng to in my original post, not yourself.

I appear to have got this whole forum thing wrong.
I thought it was to share info. and gain info. from other beeks.

Where's the ignore button?

Found it

 

[Swarm]

My advice would be the swienty, when you consider all the various scenarios it is the most practical.
All the standard national hive parts like excluders and crown boards will fit, neatly.
I would also suggest making your own floors (or using standard wooden ones) as none of the poly floors are much cop and they are overpriced (not worth the cash).

 

[mbc]

My advice would be the swienty, when you consider all the various scenarios it is the most practical.
All the standard national hive parts like excluders and crown boards will fit, neatly.
I would also suggest making your own floors (or using standard wooden ones) as none of the poly floors are much cop and they are overpriced (not worth the cash).

I agree with all of that, especially the floor, why pay for insulation for something with a big open hole in it?

 

[theeggman]

To answer the OP.

I'm currently running 5 Paynes 14x12's and the bees seem to winter well in them.

If you want to put a super under the BB it needs to be wooden because of the lugs, but on 14x12 they have a winter's stores in the BB so it's not an issue.

They are a good price and the "new" roof is a great improvement.

Whatever you decide I would say go 'Poly', our poly bees are out earlier and longer than our cedar bees on the same hive stand.

 

[Itchy]

Why glue it on? Use the the shallow as an eke and put the lid on!

Because the lid warped with the use of a strap.

 

[jonnybeegood]

Because the lid warped with the use of a strap.

Thats a good thing about the Bhs poly hive roof, it is angled & a strap can be tightened over it as tight as you like as its over 4" at its peak, no chance of crushing it.

 

[itma]

Because the lid warped with the use of a strap.

You were confessing to this back in March.

The current roof (and it was current back in March) is harder to fit wrongly.

No, not at all the fault of the hive, more the inexperience of the hive purchaser and owner.
...
The roof is poor, and a difficult fit. I understand the roof has been remodelled by this manufacturer....I wonder why? As they are not issuing the revised roof to update those purchased, then I'll fabricate my own.

Warped by the strap....impossible? Actually no, not if you have a thin roof and over tighten to try and stop leaks of air.
...

Over-tightening the strap wouldn't compensate for not aligning it properly. That old roof was a tight (and snug) fit - but you did have to fit it on accurately to get it to 'sit down'.
The new one is as 'loose' an overlap fit as many wooden roofs.

An ex-problem.

 

[Itchy]

You were confessing to this back in March.

The current roof (and it was current back in March) is harder to fit wrongly.


Over-tightening the strap wouldn't compensate for not aligning it properly. That old roof was a tight (and snug) fit - but you did have to fit it on accurately to get it to 'sit down'.
The new one is as 'loose' an overlap fit as many wooden roofs.

An ex-problem.

I stand corrected. Does it show the new one on the website?

 

[itma]

... Does it show the new one on the website?

Maybe!
It barely looks different until you see it on the hive or compare it side by side with the old one - when the difference becomes obvious.

And Paynes don't seem to change their website photos if they can avoid it! They don't actually have photos of the disc-entrance of the poly nuc ... more than two years after its introduction (there's still one photo showing the original tunnel entrance).

But I don't see ANY chance that an order now could get you an old-style roof (or nuc). Phone them and check if you have any doubt. And report back here what they say!

 

[Itchy]

Thanks. Nucs? What's changed? I have lots of them, last ones bought last summer.

 

[Hivemaker.]

Thanks. Nucs? What's changed?

The entrance hole.

 

[itma]

... Nucs? What's changed? ...

A couple of years ago they changed from having an entrance tunnel under the bottom edge of the front face, to (now) having a round hole through that front face which can be covered/controlled by the entrance disc (provided).

/// I always secure the disc with a map pin (through the small-holes ventilator section) to prevent it rotating when I don't want it to. (The small holes mean there is almost zero slop/backlash/freeplay in the disc positioning.)

 

[whoosling]

Just received a paynes poly hive and I'm very pleased! Great quality, interchangeable with my wooden hives, cheap, more pros than wooden so I have no complaints. Looking forward to using it!

got mine last summer mainly because I wanted something I could use with my wooden hives, not used as a complete hive but looking forward to doing that this year to compare poly to wood.