Poly hive musings.

[Black Comb]

Top bars flush with the box top and double broods sticking together are the norm in the Thornes cedar boxes I use.
To separate the 2 b boxes I twist the top one as well as lift. It breaks any seal between top and bottom boxes.
If the top bars are not flush then will the bee space not be too large?

[Mellifera Crofter]

Why don't you do what I do Kitta ? . I've settled on the old design Swienty B,boxes which I think are still in stock at C.W.J. I then use wooden varroa floors (self made) together with wooden Roofs which are heavy enough and deep enough to not blow off easily. ...

I have so much hoped that they'll improve the new design with a proper raised lug rest because I'm not keen on my frames sitting on the poly lug rest - but it seems to me that my only option with the new ones is to either remove the raised lug rests (so in the end there won't be much to choose between the two boxes) or keep them in and settle for the struggle to lift a box without also lifting all or the frames from the box below.

They've discontinued the new roof because, as you said, Grizzly, it was a joke. So the old roofs are still about, and I quite like them. I always strap my hives down, so I don't need the weight of a wooden roof (that said, all my hives are strapped and weighted down - 77mph gusts of wind predicted for Friday).

Kitta

[Poly Hive]

MC? When you bought your new broods did you get the frame rests with them? white plastic strips that fit into a slot in the wall? If not let me know and I have a few spare. Just bear in mind we are off to India on Sat for a couple of weeks.

PH

[Mellifera Crofter]

Top bars flush with the box top and double broods sticking together are the norm in the Thornes cedar boxes I use.
To separate the 2 b boxes I twist the top one as well as lift. It breaks any seal between top and bottom boxes.
If the top bars are not flush then will the bee space not be too large?

Like the old Swienties, the frames in all my wooden hives (bought from different sources) are also a fraction below the rim.

I've not measured the space between the top of the lower frames and the bottom of the top frames, BC - but I've not had any problems, so I assume the spacing is fine.

I've tried the twist and then lift technique BC - it doesn't work (not for me, anyway). The frames are really, really, stuck to the box above. I had to one-by-one manoeuvre them loose from the box above.

Kitta

[Mellifera Crofter]

MC? When you bought your new broods did you get the frame rests with them? white plastic strips that fit into a slot in the wall? If not let me know and I have a few spare. Just bear in mind we are off to India on Sat for a couple of weeks.

PH

Yes, thank you PH - they came with the frame rests.
K

[drumgerry]

Anyone managed to get their sweaty paws on one of the new Maisemore polynucs yet? They look nice but it'll be interesting to see how they compete with Paynes' offering.

[Pete L]

Think they will be manufactured for Paynes anyway.

[drumgerry]

Ahhhhh! I see! So it's just a redesign of the Paynes nuc then?

[Pete L]

Don't know for sure, Gerry, but i suspect it will be, the two businesses get on very well, and the old nucs are all Paynes, Roger mentioned back in September there were some new design features coming out regards the hives and nucs, including a top feeder for the nucs, plus a super.

[Mellifera Crofter]

...Of all my quibbles, it's the lug-rest issue that bothers me most. If I buy another hive, then I might remove them altogether, or try to lower them somehow.
Kitta

I posted some photographs showing the lug-rest problem (I think with the above post) but I can't find them anymore. (Perhaps they were too large and got deleted ...)

I bought some new Swienties and shaved about 2mm off the lug rests - and so far I think that works really well and is so much easier to work with. I'll see if any problems appear as a result of reducing the lug rests. I have a bandsaw, so reducing them was fairly easy - but perhaps not that accurate. I think I removed a tad more than 2mm.

The first photo shows the new style Swienty with the full-height lug rests, and the other two with the reduced lug rests. I may have to watch out to prevent drones getting trapped underneath the lugs - but that's easier to manage than the previous set-up where one squashed a lot of bees, and they propolised the lugs to the box above.

Kitta

Swienty, new design.JPG Swienty, reduced lugs.JPG Swienty, reduced lugs - two boxes.JPG