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Author Topic: Waxed cardboard Nucs.....  (Read 6273 times)

Offline SteveSC

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Waxed cardboard Nucs.....
« on: January 14, 2008, 02:02:14 pm »
Has anyone here ever used these waxed cardboard 5 frame Nucs. to raise and then sell bees out of..?  MannLakes sells the Nucs - other's do also.

Instead of using wooden Nucs that you'd have to exchange frames out of to the customer's equipment or charge for the price to replace wooden Nucs I was thinking this might be a good idea. The customer could just take the Nuc. with them and that's that...  They could swap out the frames at their convenience. You could add the price ( $4 or $5  ) of the cardboard Nuc to the price of the 5 frames of bees. 

It would save alot of labor building - repairing and\or purchasing wooden Nucs. every yr..   The only problem would be is how they would stand up to the elements (  rain - wind - hail ,etc.. ) from the time you made the Nuc until it was sold in late spring.

Some sort of cover\shed over the Nucs. would be ideal.  Anyone had any experience with these Nucs..?


Offline Bennettoid

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Re: Waxed cardboard Nucs.....
« Reply #1 on: January 14, 2008, 03:53:21 pm »
I have one I got from the State when we did some squirrell box cut outs on State land. They were good enough to get the Bees home, but that was it, we needed to transfer them out of it ASAP.

If you are just going to use it to transport the Bees then it would work I guess.

Offline NWIN Beekeeper

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Re: Waxed cardboard Nucs.....
« Reply #2 on: January 14, 2008, 05:24:31 pm »
[If you are just going to use it to transport the Bees then it would work I guess.]

That is what most manufactures state the cardboard boxes are intended to be used for.

I have not heard a good method to make last any longer in an outdoor environment.
This is not a new topic, theses boxes have been around before varroa, I'd think any good improvements have been done by now.

The fact that they degrade outdoors is a blessing up north.
Else we'd have fools trying to keep bees in them year round.

I've been homeless.
Its not very warm sleeping in a cardboard box in January.
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Offline steveouk

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Re: Waxed cardboard Nucs.....
« Reply #3 on: January 14, 2008, 07:22:45 pm »
I'm planing on getting these to transport my bee's when i get them in April. I figured the weight would be better in the car

Offline Brian D. Bray

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Re: Waxed cardboard Nucs.....
« Reply #4 on: January 15, 2008, 09:19:15 pm »
I'm planing on getting these to transport my bee's when i get them in April. I figured the weight would be better in the car

If you're going to transport in your car, why go the cardboard route.  (there's a pun there)  Since you're doing the trasnporting save yourself a couple of steps and just put them into a wood nuc, that way you just set it in your bee yard and walk away.  No extra step of having to transfer out of the cardboard into a wooden nuc.
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Offline steveouk

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Re: Waxed cardboard Nucs.....
« Reply #5 on: January 15, 2008, 10:19:33 pm »
I don't want to purchase the wooden ware. I was going to transport them in cardboard and then transfer them straight into the 10 frame hive bodies i have already prepared. i think the cardboard nuc's are only $6 a peace where as the same wooden ware is $30 a peace like the idea of the cardboard as you can strap them down better and not worry about wooden parts coming apart.

Would anyone else suggest anything different ?? or is there a method in my madness ?

Stephen

Offline Brian D. Bray

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Re: Waxed cardboard Nucs.....
« Reply #6 on: January 15, 2008, 11:08:16 pm »
I don't want to purchase the wooden ware. I was going to transport them in cardboard and then transfer them straight into the 10 frame hive bodies i have already prepared. i think the cardboard nuc's are only $6 a peace where as the same wooden ware is $30 a peace like the idea of the cardboard as you can strap them down better and not worry about wooden parts coming apart.

Would anyone else suggest anything different ?? or is there a method in my madness ?

Stephen

The just take the entire hive frames and all, trade frames for those to make a nuc (putting them in the center) close it up and haul it back.  I've transported entire hives hundreds of miles without any problems.  Why over complicate a simple problem?
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Offline Sir Stungalot

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Re: Waxed cardboard Nucs.....
« Reply #7 on: January 15, 2008, 11:50:43 pm »
I think what SteveSC is asking is if anyone has used them, start to finish in Nuc production. A good question...I myself would like to know if they could stand up to say, 8 weeks of use (the build up period) prior to the actual sale.
They MUST have more use than a simple car ride home from somewhere.  I know from past experiance, that waxed cardboard can really withstand the elements..for a while. I get horticultural products shipped to me in heavy, dark brown waxed cardboard. I can toss them out into the "pile" and they will sit for months before losing their shape and falling apart.

Perhaps I will buy a couple and see what happens.

Back to Steves question....what is the longest anyone knows of them standing up to use?

Offline TwT

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Re: Waxed cardboard Nucs.....
« Reply #8 on: January 16, 2008, 12:00:15 am »
card board nuc's are mainly for shipping or selling nuc's (keep you from getting rid of your wooded boxes), being wax coated they can take some weather but not a lot, remember they are made of paper, I have heard some use them for swarm boxes but have some protection over them, I have never tried one, they might work but I want take the chance.. I dont sell my nuc's, I tell the buyer to bring his own equipment and he gets 5 frames with the queen.
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Online Michael Bush

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Re: Waxed cardboard Nucs.....
« Reply #9 on: January 16, 2008, 07:19:46 am »
I've used the waxed ones for bait hives.  They last a while but they warp over time and don't weather well in the long run.  I've used the plain ones (no wax) for selling nucs.  They work very well.

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