Re: Which Poly.
PostPosted:24 Nov 2018, 10:34
There are few errors in the Paradise National (and from early models which might have changed).
1) A standard excluder does not fit as the Paradise box has curved corners and is a little smaller.
2) The space for a top bar should be just over 17 inches so the top bars can slide. The Paradise space is exactly 17 inches so you can turn a box upside down and empty frames will stay there - in use, sliding the frames is a pig.
3) If you use two brood boxes, there is not a bee space between the bottom of the top frames and the top bars of the frames in the lower box. It's only 3 mm, so bees will be crushed and comb will be built there.
4)The frame runner design is rubbish - bees will always get crushed under them as there is no refuge - you would usually expect to see a thin contact strip as a frame runner.
5) The mesh floor will allow for ventillation OK however there is as much plastic as there is gaps - I suspect that many of the varroa that we would hope to fall through would stay and be able to return to the nest.
As mentioned - some of the points raised may have changed since the early ones were supplied. Apart from that, bees do well in them!