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Author Topic: Anyone use plastic bee hives?  (Read 31775 times)

Offline yantabulla

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Re: Anyone use plastic bee hives?
« Reply #20 on: November 05, 2013, 07:11:59 am »
You could have them irradiated. The good thing about plastic hardware is that it does not rot.  It can also be flat packed to save space.  Burning is not the only option.  You would be crazy to burn plastic hardware. 

Offline amun-ra

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Re: Anyone use plastic bee hives?
« Reply #21 on: November 05, 2013, 07:56:48 am »
yes I would not burn them either but looking from a townsville point of view freight is a killer
and if you have a lot of hives not worth the trip to brisi to clean them up
Every day the sun shines and gravity sucks= free energy

Offline edward

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Re: Anyone use plastic bee hives?
« Reply #22 on: November 05, 2013, 03:01:51 pm »
? Can you scorch plastic/foam?

Yes but only once  :evil:

In Sweden there are also insulated wooden hives, they are very Heavy, I bought a beeyard and the hives were isolated wooden boxes, I was going to throw them away, but first I checked out the price, they are 5 1/2 times more expensive than poly foam hives  :shock:

So I can burn 5 poly hives if i get AFB to the cost of 1 wooden hive.

Our beekeeping association has insurance against AFB for a small fee  ;) each year.

mvh Edward  :-P

Offline damienpryan

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Re: Anyone use plastic bee hives?
« Reply #23 on: November 19, 2013, 09:21:17 pm »
I use the hasson plastic hives for my 4 hobby hives.
They are great.
One thing I love is they never leak bees when moving or break.
Once you seal them up with the hive clips and foam in the entry you can be sure that nothing will come out.
Very handy when moving them in the back of a station wagon.
I am considering experimenting with temperature controlled hive fans next year though.

I think they might go well with plastic hives.

Cheers

Damien

Offline gman

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Re: Anyone use plastic bee hives?
« Reply #24 on: December 13, 2013, 08:04:09 am »
Although all my subsequent hives are wooden, my first hives were plastic because I wanted hives in a hurry and plastic hives come ready to use. They have lasted well and show little deterioration after 15 years of constant use. One advantage over wood is that, like plastic frames and foundation, they are unaffected by wax moth larvae which can make a mess of woodware.

Offline Willy

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Re: Anyone use plastic bee hives?
« Reply #25 on: December 15, 2013, 02:07:01 am »
I've just started beekeeping and I'm sick of wooden hives already. Spent all my time treating and painting and the first time a hive tool touches them the paint comes off. Cant be good for the longevity of the boxes and I also worry about copper napthanate being exposed to the bee's/honey.

The cost of the components seems to be about $30 dearer for a double plastic hive. When you take the labour/ time involved with wood I'm thinking plastic is well worth a try.

BTW great forum, look forward to learning/ contributing.

Willy

Offline Jim134

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Re: Anyone use plastic bee hives?
« Reply #26 on: December 17, 2013, 10:18:53 am »
You could have them irradiated. The good thing about plastic hardware is that it does not rot.  It can also be flat packed to save space.  Burning is not the only option.  You would be crazy to burn plastic hardware.  

  For me irradiated is a possibility I only live 100 km or so from a place and does this once the year for beekeepers.  I do know for me it does not make economical sense for just woodware.  I'd also need good drawn comb to make economical sense for me to do this.  I do realize what will make economical sense for you may not for me. I'm very glad I do have a choice.


                      BEE HAPPY Jim 134 :)
                      
                 
« Last Edit: December 17, 2013, 12:02:50 pm by Jim 134 »
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Offline Modenacart

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Re: Anyone use plastic bee hives?
« Reply #27 on: December 20, 2013, 12:32:09 am »
The good thing about plastic hardware is that it does not rot.
Plastics may not "rot" but a lot will become brittle and useless.  Some far sooner than well care for wood rots.

Offline Spyk

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Re: Anyone use plastic bee hives?
« Reply #28 on: December 23, 2013, 12:23:19 am »
Hi,

I also have 2 TechnosetBee Hives. ( first year bee slave )

One issue I have had is the plastic frames that come with the hives are not straight along the top.
they bend down a little - and my guess is the bee space can be  wrong between the frames in the supers
top and bottom - and the bees doggedly built comb  between the top of one of the bottom
frames and the bottom of one of the top frames. I replaced the bottom frame at that spot with a standard
wooden frame and they stopped doing that. ( I think they plan on using different frames in the future )

Also the plastic frames are not quite long enough and can seem that at a small angle may fall down - this
will make me *really nervous if I have to move my hive.

Once again - the standard wood frame seems to fit perfectly lengthwise.

So far they seem to be working as advertised - my bees are doing well  - they also seemed
slightly cheaper than the otehr hives I priced

They have top ventilation holes on the covers (  which one of my hives seems to like and the other has propolised
closed - so the bees have their choice :-). For both my hives I had to get a small file and clear away plastic
from the manufacturing process to clear the top vents.

Easy to clean - being plastic - I never wanted to be painting and all that - so this suites my
lazy nature.

I haven't tried any of the other Plastic hives - but Aside from my nitpicking above - I'm
super happy  etc

cheers

Offline Spyk

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Re: Anyone use plastic bee hives?
« Reply #29 on: February 22, 2014, 11:25:37 pm »
Just a little update on the TechnosetBee hives I have.

1) They are hollow and have holes along the top and bottom. It seem when it rains
water finds its way inside... So the first time you notice  this happens is when your lifting the
box off and you stream a gush of water onto the frames in the box below....arrrgggg

2) The lighter colours are a bit translucent, so there seems to be a fair bit of
light inside on a sunny day - I don't get many  Small hive beetles in this hive  ( compared to my darker one )
but the bees also seem less productive..maybe be coincidence  - I'm too new to it
all to know.


Offline Suncat

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Re: Anyone use plastic bee hives?
« Reply #30 on: March 31, 2014, 04:32:01 am »
I am new to beekeeping, only been at it for 12 months or so.  I inherited a hive or 2 and I am in the process of slowly increasing the number, and with limited knowledge I have done a lot of research and looking at hives, and I decided to head down the plastic path to supplement the aging wood supers of varying age and robustness.

After many hours of looking at the various plastics out there, I decided on Nuplas, partly due to cost and I have Nuplas water tanks, so I guess they know how to mold plastic  :-D
(Search for Nuplas bee hives)

I ordered 6 10 frame supers and they arrived quickly from Melbourne, and were really easy to construct, only 12 stainless screws and a battery drill and the job was done within 1/2 hour.

They fit perfectly with the wooden supers, base boards and lids that I have (Nuplas don't have  plastic bases and lids yet for 10 frame, but they did assure me that they are one the way later this year).

So far I am happy with the choice, they haven't warped or changed colour yet,and the bees don't seem to notice, they produce the same in wood or plastic as far as i can tell.  As soon as the bases and lids are ready I will be purchasing them and some more supers to build up some more hives.
John

Offline 100 TD

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Re: Anyone use plastic bee hives?
« Reply #31 on: March 31, 2014, 10:27:00 am »
Plastics may not "rot" but a lot will become brittle and useless.  Some far sooner than well care for wood rots.
I have Parker plastic beehives, I bought them secondhand, while I cant be sure of the age, I went to Parkers shop a couple of weeks ago and was talking about the differences in his lids compared to mine. He told me he hasn't made that design for 25 years, so they are still going strong.

Offline Modenacart

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Anyone use plastic bee hives?
« Reply #32 on: April 03, 2014, 09:31:33 pm »
Plastics may not "rot" but a lot will become brittle and useless.  Some far sooner than well care for wood rots.
I have Parker plastic beehives, I bought them secondhand, while I cant be sure of the age, I went to Parkers shop a couple of weeks ago and was talking about the differences in his lids compared to mine. He told me he hasn't made that design for 25 years, so they are still going strong.
Looks like they chose a good plastic.

Offline squidink

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Re: Anyone use plastic bee hives?
« Reply #33 on: April 06, 2014, 07:17:01 pm »
I have used the plastic hives for over a year now. Im back to wood.
They certainly have there positives ie no painting, long life etc.

Ben

Offline Willy

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Re: Anyone use plastic bee hives?
« Reply #34 on: April 07, 2014, 06:25:24 am »
I have used the plastic hives for over a year now. Im back to wood.
They certainly have there positives ie no painting, long life etc.

Ben

What do you see as the main downside of plastic?

I'm about to order my first  plastic hives (nuplas). I've got timber hives that are only 12 months old and already they are starting to show signs of deteriorating. Mainly the emlock strap damaging the bottom board and hive tool damage exposing timber. I've tried leaving the copper napthenate longer to dry more, extra coats of paint, different types of paint.

So far  I cant see any advantages of wood apart from cost but maybe I'm worrying too much and they will last ok. Also worry about bee's and honey being exposed to the copper nap when paintwork deteriorates.

Willy

Offline Lone

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Re: Anyone use plastic bee hives?
« Reply #35 on: April 07, 2014, 06:51:46 am »
Someone called one day and asked me to hive a swarm for her into a new plastic box her brother had left.  However, the "swarm" had been there a few weeks so was actually an external hive with a piece of comb about 6 inches long and barely enough bees to cover it.  I told her to let nature take its course. 
Anyhow, in the plastic hive were one-piece plastic frames, the foundation joined onto the frame and unable to be separated.  I was wondering how on earth you would be able to do a cutout with these frames. 
I called her later about a big swarm that would have set up nicely in that arrangement but she'd given the box back to her brother.

So if the hive comes with those frames I can see that is a disadvantage.

The only other problem I can think of is -I just like wood.  Plastic may be cheaper, easier, lighter, have better climate control, be termite-proof, etc, but wood is  8-) cool.

Lone

Offline amun-ra

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Re: Anyone use plastic bee hives?
« Reply #36 on: April 07, 2014, 07:15:57 pm »
Hi lone I hope they work ok i've just orded 50 of those plastic frames will let you know how they go. Mick

Every day the sun shines and gravity sucks= free energy

Offline squidink

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Re: Anyone use plastic bee hives?
« Reply #37 on: April 09, 2014, 11:34:54 pm »
I find the plastic hives sweat a lot more than wood does.

The nuplas supers have screws and they are not overly secure.




Offline Chiefman

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Re: Anyone use plastic bee hives?
« Reply #38 on: November 22, 2014, 07:26:27 am »
Has anyone else tried the nuplas plastic equipment?

How do you reduce condensation in plastic hives?
-= The Urban Beekeeper =-

Offline Suncat

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Re: Anyone use plastic bee hives?
« Reply #39 on: November 22, 2014, 05:37:33 pm »
I have had Nuplas 10 Frame boxes now for about 12 months, I am just south of Brisbane, and I have had no problems with condensation in the hives so far.  I am still using timber lids and bases (as they have only just been released by Nuplas, and I haven't had a chance to purchase them yet), but my lids have ventilation holes and I am running screen bottom boards.

Hope this helps.

John
John