which poly

[victor meldrew]

I worked for a company that produced coaches on Leyland Tiger chassis , using ash framed coach work .there was a huge pit under the wood workers shop floor was filled with creosote in which all frame sections were left for months before use!
Take a look at cough bottle formulae , creosote was often one of the ingredients !
The modern world is soaked in chemicals from artificial hormones to excess fertilisers in our rivers ,created and distributed with scant thought of the long term effects!
Pandoras' box is already open we have to learn to live with the consequences , there is no turning back!
Perhaps the best fitted to do so will survive all this ? Charlie Darwin and all that!
VM


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[thorn]

Looking back through this thread there seems to be nothing more than passing comments on CWJ's polys. They're a good price. Are they a good product?

 

[itma]

Looking back through this thread there seems to be nothing more than passing comments on CWJ's polys. They're a good price. Are they a good product?

Re CWJ poly nationals.
Some ITLD involvement, I gather.

Standard National exterior dimensions. Thus only room for 10 hoffmans in the brood box. But means they can be used under a wooden roof, if you should so choose.
Bottom beespace.
Maybe just a bit soft unless/until painted with *gloss* paint? (giving a hard skin)

No 14x12 available or likely in future.

 

[Swarm]

Re CWJ poly nationals.

Maybe just a bit soft unless/until painted with *gloss* paint? (giving a hard skin).

Absolutely not, a friend of mine has CWJ brood boxes and they are solid.

Same externally as wood so parts, excluder etc, are a neater fit. There are no frame rails, I find it difficult to lift the frames in a P***** poly nuc, so this last point was the deciding factor for me. If they had rails it would have been my first choice.

 

[theeggman]

P's poly hives DO have metal rails fitted. I agree, the lack of them in the polynuc is a pain in the a**e.

Tim

 

[karlbown]

Are the Sw8inty poly hives the same ones that ModBKP sell, ie Bee Box?

 

[BeeJayBee]

Are the Sw8inty poly hives the same ones that ModBKP sell, ie Bee Box?

No, theirs are made by Paradise.

 

[itma]

... a friend of mine has CWJ brood boxes and they are solid.

IIRC, it was ITLD himself that was advising the paint for a harder skin - however, I defer to direct experience!

... There are no frame rails, I find it difficult to lift the frames in a P***** poly nuc, so this last point was the deciding factor for me. If they had rails it would have been my first choice.

P's poly hives DO have metal rails fitted. I agree, the lack of them in the polynuc is a pain in the a**e.

Payns poly nuc has enough top (bee)space for rails.

Having some spare ekes (I'm on 14x12, and I wanted some spare for nuc-combining, feeding and extra winter top-insulation - so in the Sale ...) anyway I took a spare eke and experimented with adding rails.
Works nicely - now needs a dummy board to stop the frames sliding!
Only problem is the usual no-top-space & flat coversheet one of bees & stuff on the topbars when closing up. So, next is a framed coversheet ...
Anyway, I was pleased enough that I've done it to another eke.

No real reason it couldn't be done to the box, the same as I did to the 14x12 eke.

Thorns plastic rails, cut to length. (Cheap enough.)
Glue was UHU Power (came from Lidls, I think). "Test on an inconspicuous area"! I used it as a contact adhesive. Apply to both sides, allow several minutes to dry, then bring together and press hard for a few seconds. Seems to be holding very firmly.
Because the ekes I have used were like new, I didn't have to worry about cleaning off the ledges - which would be very important before trying to glue to older, well-used items.



/// Without the rails, frame removal from Payns poly national/14x12 nuc is a job for the J-type hive tool!

 

[Swarm]

Yes ITLD was talking about gloss paint that forms a harder surface, the boxes are tough though.
Nice idea about the rails in the nuc.

 

[karlbown]

Cheers

No, theirs are made by Paradise.

 

[Tdod]

I added metal rails to my p*****s poly nuc by screwing them on worked a treat and now the frames are bottom space like the poly hive with rails, no issues at all..

 

[Hachi]

Can you sit a P8ynes poly hive on a wooden solid national floor ITMA?

 

[Swarm]

Can you sit a P8ynes poly hive on a wooden solid national floor ITMA?

The answer to this is yes, you can. The downside is, it will overhang and look awkward.
To repeat what Poly Hive always said, floors are so easily made and offer the hive set up very little other than support so some 2x2, 2x1 and varroa mesh will make a sturdy floor.

 

[psafloyd]

Has anyone suggested Pretty Polly?

 

[itma]

Can you sit a P8ynes poly hive on a wooden solid national floor ITMA?

The answer to this is yes, you can. The downside is, it will overhang and look awkward.
To repeat what Poly Hive always said, floors are so easily made and offer the hive set up very little other than support so some 2x2, 2x1 and varroa mesh will make a sturdy floor.

Yes.
And yes it looks awkward and would be awkward to shift.

I wouldn't choose to use a solid floor. But it could be used.

If home-building, I'd use the Payns 500mm external dimension, with a broad enough contact patch that it would support a wooden 460 square box.

Floors don't have to be high performance - just strong enough to support the whole of the hive above them, supers and all. Build it strong!

 

[Ely]

The beebox supplied by modern beekeeping look good. They come from paradise honey in Finland. If they are good enough for the fins they are good enough for us

 

[Erichalfbee]

I have these. Bought Nats then went over to 14 x 12. I like the top bee space so I converted the MB polys too.
The lip is a bit of a nuisance. My clearer boards made for the wooden hives have a small eke added to the top side to take this lip.
Starting again I too would have gone for poly Langs.

 

[rolande]

The beebox supplied by modern beekeeping look good. They come from paradise honey in Finland. If they are good enough for the fins they are good enough for us

But are they? It's interesting that the videos of Paradise Honey's extraction line(downloadable from their website) don't show them using the 'interlocking' boxes, just their other type with the flat surfaces. You'd think that such videos would be an ideal opportunity to showcase their state of the art boxes.

Likewise, the Finnish 'honey paw' catalogue which Finnman linked the other day dismisses the idea of interlocking boxes in a very robust condemnation of them:

The top - and undersides of boxes must be flat.

Expecially beginners must be careful when buying new boxes. Some producers are selling boxes that have half notches on top and bottom of the box walls. These notches are common in Central European beekeeping and the idea is to keep boxes secured to each others when moving hives. The standard in Finland and in Scandinavia has been other-flat top and bottom of the walls. The half notch boxes do not work with flat top boxes. Beekeeper must have one or other type. We don't like the notches because bees glue the half notch boxes very hard into each others, and the notches break easily.

With big honey crops is much easier to "slide" heavy boxes with flat tops and bottoms. The 40 mm wide wall keeps the boxes well in place and when hives are moved they need to be fixed together with a strap anyway. Our boxes will fit well together with other polysterene or wooden boxes if beekeeper had got them before.

So, what's good for one Finn may not be the best thing for another (or the rest of us).

 

[Finman]

If they are good enough for the fins they are good enough for us

Yes, not in that meaning but English men have picked hundreds of wifes from Finland.



.

 

[Finman]

for one Finn[/B] may not be the best thing for another (or the rest of us).

Oh dear. What is good for one Finn, it is not good to 60 million ordinary Englishmen.

Make your own guys there!!!. Paradise Honey sells sell its products at least top 15 country. Russian is a big market. They pick the stuff from Paradise home. Place is in the middle way Helsinki and Russian border.
He sells big honey extracting lines too.