Poly hive musings.

[Kate Atchley]

I've now got one of the abelo nationals and although I've not used it in anger yet it looks and feels the biz. The roof is the best I've seen.

Glad it feels the biz. Ordered 3 a couple of weeks ago so will soon find out. Really like that roof .. in the pics at least.

[Kate Atchley]

Has anyone seen the new MannLake (NB-100) offering? The only photo in their catalogue at present is of a Paynes version.

Looks interesting in the catalogue ... pity pics not there yet. Seems Paynes and Swienty may have to up their game with Abelo and Mann Lake bringing out these new, painted products, priced competitively.

[Feckless Drone]

abelo nationals : looks and feels the biz. The roof is the best I've seen.

Yes, roof looks good. What about the crown board - do you think those vents be clogged up with propolis? and would a normal wood National crown board work?

[Calluna4u]

Yes, roof looks good. What about the crown board - do you think those vents be clogged up with propolis? and would a normal wood National crown board work?

What is it about the roof you ones like?....looks a horror to me.

Its way too deep and is unable to have one of the joys of a poly roof, that you can just put your hand in the middle firmly and gently pull up one edge to flex it slightly and it simply peels away. Then again the biscuit hardness of the Polish material means that is more difficult anyway.

You DONT need crown boards with poly hives....they are only there to pacify UK conservatism...we have NONE at all in our unit. The roof doubles nicely as both. Only sometimes in Europe do you see a Perspex or acetate sheet to double as a crown board.
Crown boards are a bit of a pest in these hives as it means the bees do not glue the roof down themselves, and renders the hive more vulnerable to wind. Bigger rocks or a hive strap then needed.

Sorry, but saw the hive already, and it looks like a backward step designed to accommodate feedback from wooden hive users, which kind of misses part of the point of poly. They are incredibly simple hives to buy and keep, and all the fancy bits and pieces are just not needed. Floor, boxes, combs, an excluder, a feeder and a roof.........that's ALL you need. The rest is just a nuisance.

Swienty will not be losing any sleep over it...........it incorporates features they tried (like the deeper roof) and discarded long ago.

Also......it costs about 60p to properly paint a poly box with best grade paint that will last a lifetime, including the labour. Abelo's premium for painted over unpainted is several times that amount.

[Jon]

Also......it costs about 60p to properly paint a poly box with best grade paint that will last a lifetime, including the labour. Abelo's premium for painted over unpainted is several times that amount.

Paynes charge about an extra fifteen quid for a painted polynuc.
You have to laugh.

http://www.paynesbeefarm.co.uk/nuc-m...-ready-to-use/

£20 worth of paint would put 3 coats of paint on a pallet of them

[SDM]

£20 worth of paint would put 3 coats of paint on a pallet of them

3 pallets or 25 double brood hives , 75 supers, 10 feeders and 15nucs
£33 of sandtex( half that if you use white) and 1/5th of a tin left over, but it has taken me every evening since mid January.

[fatshark]

3 pallets or 25 double brood hives , 75 supers, 10 feeders and 15nucs
£33 of sandtex( half that if you use white) and 1/5th of a tin left over, but it has taken me every evening since mid January.

Do what I'm going to do SDM ... sub-contract the pesky painting bit to Calluna4u ...

Or do what I did which was buy a paint sprayer ... aside from all the paint I got on the lawn, it made an unbearable job just about bearable.

[mbc]

What is it about the roof you ones like?....looks a horror to me.

Its way too deep and is unable to have one of the joys of a poly roof, that you can just put your hand in the middle firmly and gently pull up one edge to flex it slightly and it simply peels away. Then again the biscuit hardness of the Polish material means that is more difficult anyway.

You DONT need crown boards with poly hives....they are only there to pacify UK conservatism...we have NONE at all in our unit. The roof doubles nicely as both. Only sometimes in Europe do you see a Perspex or acetate sheet to double as a crown board.
Crown boards are a bit of a pest in these hives as it means the bees do not glue the roof down themselves, and renders the hive more vulnerable to wind. Bigger rocks or a hive strap then needed.

Sorry, but saw the hive already, and it looks like a backward step designed to accommodate feedback from wooden hive users, which kind of misses part of the point of poly. They are incredibly simple hives to buy and keep, and all the fancy bits and pieces are just not needed. Floor, boxes, combs, an excluder, a feeder and a roof.........that's ALL you need. The rest is just a nuisance.

Swienty will not be losing any sleep over it...........it incorporates features they tried (like the deeper roof) and discarded long ago.

Also......it costs about 60p to properly paint a poly box with best grade paint that will last a lifetime, including the labour. Abelo's premium for painted over unpainted is several times that amount.

I hear what your saying, especially about the crown board, and my appreciation of the roof was mainly as an insulated lid for wood nationals rather than specifically on these hives.
The brood box and supers are nice looking boxes, I think the harder plastic top and bottom, especially on the frame rails, will give the hive a lot of usability. One positive they have over swienty is less surface area on the mating surfaces = less squashed bees.
I can't see myself using the crown board other than as insulation.
The good points of the roof for me are :
-it's sturdy
-it's plenty insulated
-it's deep so will cover eaks
-ready to go out of the box
-should never leak

[Calluna4u]

I hear what you are all saying, but for fear of brining 'Mr. Insulation' over from the beekeeping forum, the denser you go with poly the LESS the insulation. This product is too dense. Not only that, the side walls look thinner.

Squashing bees should not happen much in any hive manipulation.....it does to some extent with all types.......but it need never be a major issue.

The plastic edges are also just a luxury that answers a worry people have about poly that is not really there in practice, lack of durability especially when the hive tool is being used.

Its largely a poly hive for wooden hive users. Poly is a different mind set....and believe me I learned that slowly enough myself.

003.jpg

Fatshark.......I sub contract the work myself.......fortunately space aliens just love messing around with sprayers and you can get it done real cheaply.

[mbc]

The plastic edges are also just a luxury that answers a worry people have about poly that is not really there in practice,

I was under the impression that they are a necessary part of this type of moulding rather than a luxury. Maybe I'm wrong.