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  • Which polyhive

  • General Q&A, Bee chat and only Bee chat please
General Q&A, Bee chat and only Bee chat please
 #12416  by Ewen
 03 Feb 2022, 16:14
I’m thinking to try some poly hives,see how they perform in comparison to the wood ones. I don’t know which one is better though. What is your experience. :)
 #12417  by AdamD
 03 Feb 2022, 17:51
I tried two types early on; from Paynes and Paradise.
Bees did well in the Paynes polyhive, however the material was too soft and it was difficult to lift as there are no real handles, so it was sold.
The Paradise hive has some design flaws in it. I have two brood boxes and one super which acts as an eke for feeding, the brood boxes are used as large nucs only.
I gave up after that and have stuck to cedar which 'just works'.
 #12418  by Alfred
 03 Feb 2022, 19:56
Surprisingly Adam hasn't asked your location.
Poly main advantage is thermal efficiency which is handy if you're in the North
(although checking temps periodically I've noticed there's little variance between here on the Welsh border and York).

You're going to get one anyway but If you're not in sub zero climate for half the year then is it worth it?

I run poly nucs and timber hives (which can be retro insulated anyway)
I have found durability isn't quite so good as with timber and others have found several poly brands have design deficiency allowing water in amongst other problems so it's a bit of a Pandoras box.

I got a Paradise hive from Currys -really heavy to move until I found some joker had hidden a washing machine inside it. :lol:
(Sorry but that's what they look like)


Plus there's the cleaning and sterilizing -much easier with wooden boxes.

I have a Steele and Brodie that was made at least 70 years ago, a couple of Maisemores of unknown vintage and another half a dozen I've made myself over the last few years.
All components are fully interchangeable.
You would struggle to achieve that with Poly so make sure you pick the winner first time!!
Oh and woody woodpecker prefers Polystyrene over timber-much quicker ;)
 #12419  by MickBBKA
 03 Feb 2022, 21:37
In my experience the only advantage is weight saving.
Having a couple I used sister queens at 2 apiaries one in wood one in poly at each as a control experiment and found the bees overwinter no different in wood than poly. They built up much faster in Spring in wood. My poly hives flood with water and rot the outer frames over winter making the comb like 3 month old bread.
Last Summer was the hotest I have experienced in 10 years of bee keeping and I found on several occasions what looked like half the colony on the outside covering the hive fanning trying to cool it.
Mine also hold less frames due to the thickness of the walls, also the contact areas are hard plastic and the bees won't propolise them so the boxes slide around during inspections. Just say'n ;)
Lots of folk love them. I would say buy one and try it for a season or 2.
 #12420  by NigelP
 04 Feb 2022, 09:21
I run nothing but poly hives as my early experiments showed in the tundra of the North York moors they provided a significant boost to spring numbers and far less stores are consumed over winter.
Mick uses the same poly hives as I do but has had very different results, I've never had serious water ingress nor had trouble with bees fanning in hot weather in poly. (and I run over 20 hives). I find the hard plastic edges do do get propolised and can be a bugger to separate at times . I think Mick and I are keeping very different strains of bees here :).
I would tend to go for a poly hive that has the same footprint as the wooden National so all your kit is interchangeable.....I got rid of my Paynes poly hives for this reason. The major National compatible hives come from Abelo's. But don't go for the new roofs, you want the one with deep roofs that hang down over the sides.
They starts at £160 for an unpainted model
 #12421  by Ewen
 04 Feb 2022, 09:44
Hi

Thanks all for your useful info.

Nigel why the deep roof is better in your view?

Thanks
 #12422  by Patrick
 04 Feb 2022, 14:01
I can't speak from experience as all my hives have always been wood. I haven't felt knowingly disadvantaged, but I am based in the South West and we rarely get really cold weather for any prolonged period (and when we have, the bees have been fine).

However a life long beekeeper mate locally speaks highly of his single poly hive which he has had a decade. It did require painting from new of course and I think the point about what type of bees you have is a good one. I have had some colonies which collected prodigious amounts of propolis and levering out frames, splitting boxes etc in poly could be problematic. Personally I don't find them terribly aesthetically appealing, any more than I do plastic hives, but I am sure the bees don't care what it looks like..
 #12424  by Spike
 04 Feb 2022, 20:32
Some polyhives may not be compatible with wooden ones, so you are on your own with one make.
 #12425  by NigelP
 05 Feb 2022, 05:08
Spike wrote:
04 Feb 2022, 20:32
Some polyhives may not be compatible with wooden ones, so you are on your own with one make.
The Abelo ones are.
Deep roof because they are compatible with all crown boards. The newer slimmer roofs are only compatible with their own dedicated crown boards so are not interchangeable with other national hives parts, wooden or poly.
 #12426  by Alfred
 05 Feb 2022, 06:21
So unless there's a supply of old stock, Abelos are not fully compatible?