Paradise beebox hive

[gwizzie]

Never worked with the MB/paradise boxes but it's a system that looks decent enough. I know someone who uses them and they seem pretty happy with them - they haven't voiced any complaints about them within my hearing anyway. But....I have no experience with them so I'll defer to those who actually do.

The full sized Paynes hives are a different matter - those I do have experience of. I bought 4 in one of their crimbo sales a few years back. In use as long as you don't have to move them they're ok. There's enough room at the end of the lugs, the bee space is ok. But......the poly is a bit soft, the floor has a large landing board which sticks out and makes moving them a problem, the floor and BB have little corner lug things that interlock and are a pain (payne?) in the ass, the roof is a tight fit, they have a bigger footprint than wooden kit so are not interchangeable although you can get away with using wooden supers if you switch the roof for a standard wooden one (I guess in theory you could still use the poly roof but it'd have a big overlap). All that aside they're perfectly useable but I won't be buying any more.

If you're going down the poly route probably the best option are the Swienty hives. They have the same footprint as wooden kit so you can mix and match no problem - this alone makes them the best option imho. The floor is flush with no landing board. There's enough room at the end of the lugs. Bee space is good. No frame runners but a bit of judicious smoke and some care will leave few casualties when replacing frames.

All of the aforementioned relates to Nationals btw.

Having said all that I'm not convinced that poly gains you a whole helluva lot over wooden kit when we're talking about full sized colonies. Nuc sized colonies are a different matter and I think the ubiquitous Paynes poly nuc is a superb bit of kit for those summer and winter.

Pretty sure I've said all of this before in the poly hive thread but hey ho!

Hi drumgerry,

thank you for your comments and insight into the Paynes hives, I think that hearing what you have said about them I will stay clear of them and stick with the beebox ones as for now as I have said in this thread I am very happy with them so far, just not happy with the feeder that you can get for them (losing too many bees)

I attended a local bee meeting tonight and the member had WBC hives and they were packed with propolis and she had bother getting the frames out, so im not that bothered about using the beebox ones, as I have come to the conclusion that if they're that bad the poly hive will have more give in it than a wooden one!

I have got 2 paynes poly nucs and will be making the mod to remove the feeder and making them into 8 framed nucs, as I prefer using rapid feeders.

again thank you for taking the time to reply to this thread

[The Drone Ranger]

Graham check paynes upper broodbox for the nuc you might like that extra space over the brood

By the by
Smith cedar hives never need painting and the bees don't eat them when you shut them in for a day lol!

[Emma]

A better crownboard for these hives is a simple sheet of polythene (clear if you want a view through it) or damp proof membrane. See one of the pictures I posted above. DPM is actually very good as propolis and wax don't appear to adhere to it particularly well.

Of course, instead of "plastic crownboard replacement" being an Olympic sport you now have "fetch the polythene sheet from the other side of the field on a windy day". Which is why I leave a drawing pin in place to hold it down.

So are you just cutting a piece of polythene from a sturdy polythene bag? I've started tinkering with that as a solution this year, in a couple of the complicated situations I got myself into. Didn't think anyone else would be trying it, & as ever it's reassuring to know that someone else has. (Maybe I'm not a lone crazy bee lady, after all!) I'm really liking the way the plastic just floats down onto the bees. I can see them gradually getting out from under it while I get on with something else, it's much quicker to deal with than rigid (or bendy) perspex. However, last time I looked, only a couple of weeks after putting the sheets in, I did notice the edges of the plastic starting to get chewed. Do you find that that happens?

(I guess it might not happen if the edges were safely sandwiched between the edges of the boxes - mine are half sheets, due to having a half-filled super, & the edges are accessible to tidy-minded mandibles.)

[fatshark]

Don't be reassured that I'm trying it as well … there's any number of things I've tried which have been unmitigated failures. However, polythene crownboards isn't one of them. I use pretty thick polythene, perhaps 0.5mm. As I said earlier, the stuff they wrap new sofas in and that ignorant so and so's dump in lay-by's. Damp proof membrane is perhaps slightly thicker but just as good. None of mine have been chewed. They overhang the box by a couple of cm or so and so the bees don't have access to the edges.

They make short work of cling film, so I think even 'sturdy polythene bags' perhaps aren't robust enough to withstand their mandibles.

Your description of 'floating down' onto the bees is perfect. It's light enough that they're not crushed, but heavy enough that they eventually move … by which time you're about ready to put the roof on.

[gavin]

I've been scouring Fife and Tayside lay-bys for cast-off sofa wrappings but no, the people around these parts are clearly more proud of their countryside than in Warwickshire . My bees will happily shred that blue plastic the BFP fondant comes in if you leave it on too long in the spring. It appears that they (the BFP workers, not the bees) just pour warm fondant into a plastic carrier bag in a cardboard box.

There was one occasion recently when I was most impressed by a couple of workers hell-bent on chewing out some plastic that got in the way. Rather than buzzing off when I lifted the box above them, they grabbed the opportunity and flew backwards with as much force as they could muster with the plastic firmly in their jaws. The pieces were nearly off and the force of the bee was causing the fragment to rock backwards and forwards with the attached bee still in the air.

[fatshark]

There will be loads to be had in Fife lay-bys soon
That BFP stuff is still pretty thin in comparison to DPM. Thicker stuff works well. I've used it as crownboards on mini-nucs for several seasons. When it gets too messy just chuck it out and start scouring lay-bys again.

[gwizzie]

well guys,

I have checked one of my other beebox hives today for frame space and the frames that I have used that are new are not sticking in the hive and there is some play from the edges and these frames have NOT been cut in anyway.

So I should not have any problems with frames sticking as I will eventually replace the frames that the splits came on with my own frames.

[gavin]

There will be loads to be had in Fife lay-bys soon

You buying new then?!

As for build-up on frame lugs, a well-aimed hive tool can deal with that. On occasion I've even done that with bees on the frames when transferring from one old rickety wooden box to another.

[fatshark]

If there are no new sofas being bought then this stuff might do. 0.25mm thick … about 50 crownboards-worth for £17.

[The Drone Ranger]

If you have an agricultural merchant nearby who sell the black plastic potato sacks etc they also sell polythene for re-covering commercial poly tunnels
Its on huge rolls and they will cut a bit for you its very thick and durable

this stuff might be similar https://www.firsttunnels.co.uk/polythene-covers.asp