P**nes Poly Nuc plastic coverboard

Just a quick question... has anyone bought any stronger plastic to replace the flimsy board it comes with? Its working fine now but as I plan to overwinter nucs and want to be able to use eke and place fondant on i'm keen to make up some of my own. I was wondering what thickness people used to avoid leaving a big gap in the lip to let the elements in yet allow strength enough for a bag of fondant to rest on it without removing beespace? If so where did you source this from?

cheers.

I don't like the difference a thicker feeder board makes to some poly hives closing properly.
What I do is put a couple of pieces of bottom bar each side of the feeder hole, underneath to support the feeder. The paynes nuc is top space so easily done.
Yes, the bees propolise them, but they are easily removed.

Bought some 2mm acrylic from B and you know who. Seems ok on a poly nuc.
Would suggest you shop around though as you know how expensive B and 'thingy' are.
Only went there myself as short on time.

I got a few estate agent's boards when a local agent changed its 'corporate identity'.
I made a couple of feeder boards for the Paynes nucs with that Correx. The round plastic "4 pint" rapid feeder fits nicely into the eke.

However, for fondant feeding (as you envisage), you can put a thin slab on the top bars, below the original cover sheet. And the clear plastic allows you to see when it needs replacement.
Because the roof is, ummm, thinner than the walls, extra top insulation is a good idea. A bit of Kingspan-type insulating board, trimmed to fit inside the eke, does the job well.

Thanks all! Have any of you also considered cutting down some of the foil that goes behind radiators to place above the cover sheet to reflect heat back in?

Roola said:

Just a quick question... has anyone bought any stronger plastic to replace the flimsy board it comes with? Its working fine now but as I plan to overwinter nucs and want to be able to use eke and place fondant on i'm keen to make up some of my own. I was wondering what thickness people used to avoid leaving a big gap in the lip to let the elements in yet allow strength enough for a bag of fondant to rest on it without removing beespace? If so where did you source this from?

cheers.

Click to expand...

http://www.beekeepingforum.co.uk/showthread.php?p=427615#post427615

post #31

pargyle said:

http://www.beekeepingforum.co.uk/showthread.php?p=427615#post427615

post #31

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Have you done a similar one for the nuc then?
The 'lip' design of the nuc is even less generous than the original Paynes poly national roof - which is what makes coversheet thickness important.

I made up one of my Correx boards with a double stripwood 'bead' around the edges (and the integral feeder) to provide beespace above frame rails added to the nuc (eke - 14x12 for me) while supporting a rapid feeder. Looks horrid, but works. One bead provides the beespace, the other locates where the lip would to prevent the thing sliding aside.

itma said:

Have you done a similar one for the nuc then?
The 'lip' design of the nuc is even less generous than the original Paynes poly national roof - which is what makes coversheet thickness important.

I made up one of my Correx boards with a double stripwood 'bead' around the edges (and the integral feeder) to provide beespace above frame rails added to the nuc (eke - 14x12 for me) while supporting a rapid feeder. Looks horrid, but works. One bead provides the beespace, the other locates where the lip would to prevent the thing sliding aside.

Click to expand...

Ahh, I see ... I've got a Paynes Poly Nuc (with the eke) on order but I've just looked a little closer at the photos on their site and I see the problem .. Your solution with an 'added bead' is going to do the trick but, of course, it then interferes with the fit of the roof ... I can see that I'm going to have to make a conventional 'top hat' roof that locates on top of the crown board rather than use the original poly one. I had wondered about how you could put a rapiid feeder on these Nucs as the space under the roof is limited ... so a timber roof with some insulation and space for a nuc sized rapid feeder looks like it's the best option. I like 6mm polycarb fro crownboards as it's really solid and even with a feeder hole (covered when not in use, of course !) cut in the middle there's absolutely no flex in the sheet.

A more sophisticated version of what I do

The Paynes Poly Nuc works just fine without any modification.

The clear plastic crownboard supplied is perfectly adequate. By using the eke you can use a round rapid feeder for syrup if desired or add fondant or other feed as required.

The extra space created by using the eke is nothing to worry about, we overwinter a lot just like this with minimal losses.

sipa said:

The Paynes Poly Nuc works just fine without any modification.

The clear plastic crownboard supplied is perfectly adequate. By using the eke you can use a round rapid feeder for syrup if desired or add fondant or other feed as required.

The extra space created by using the eke is nothing to worry about, we overwinter a lot just like this with minimal losses.

Click to expand...

Never had to mess about and modify as suggested by some on this forum, seems like they are looking for non-existent problems.

fiftyjon said:

Never had to mess about and modify as suggested by some on this forum, seems like they are looking for non-existent problems.

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+1

sipa said:

The Paynes Poly Nuc works just fine without any modification.



The clear plastic crownboard supplied is perfectly adequate. By using the eke you can use a round rapid feeder for syrup if desired or add fondant or other feed as required.



The extra space created by using the eke is nothing to worry about, we overwinter a lot just like this with minimal losses.

Click to expand...

The coverboard is better than adequate; it's great. You have to get it straight but you can just drop it on and then free any trapped bees with a hive tool. No squishing.

sipa said:

The Paynes Poly Nuc works just fine without any modification.

The clear plastic crownboard supplied is perfectly adequate. By using the eke you can use a round rapid feeder for syrup if desired or add fondant or other feed as required.

The extra space created by using the eke is nothing to worry about, we overwinter a lot just like this with minimal losses.

Click to expand...

so you don't find it squishes bees underneath when you put a 2kg block of fondant on or the feeder?

I just made a cover board with multicellular polycarbonate sheet purchased from a major hardware supplier, it's similar to what estate agent boards are made of but transparent. I also cut away the feeder divider that extends into the eke as I think it's pointless and I am not keen on the feeder in any case as it tends to drown bees in my experience. Then I cut a hole right in the centre of the new cover board (note if the feeder devider is left in situ you need to offset the centre of the hole) and feeder sits nicely on top of the new cover board and is well supported. Eke fits on fine and did not have to modify anything major simple really.

Roola said:

so you don't find it squishes bees underneath when you put a 2kg block of fondant on or the feeder?

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Place half an old bottom bar on top of the frames - that will maintain bee space under a feeder and prevent sagging of the crown board.

As I've said previously, we overwinter A LOT of these with no issues whatsoever.

Just use a bit of common sense. I don't understand the need to over manage or fuss so much.

When I was a kid, I went fishing with an old split cane rod and a tatty old reel, I caught far more fish then than today, even with nearly £1000 worth of modern gear....

Get the picture.... keep it simple, don't fuss and most important don't over complicate the job.

sipa said:

The Paynes Poly Nuc works just fine without any modification.

The clear plastic crownboard supplied is perfectly adequate. By using the eke you can use a round rapid feeder for syrup if desired or add fondant or other feed as required.

The extra space created by using the eke is nothing to worry about, we overwinter a lot just like this with minimal losses.

Click to expand...

Totally agree, I leave the eke on there all winter, done it for two winters now without a loss. For 12x14 you just add another eke on top. The rapid feeder works great and you can easily see what's going on.

No need to complicate it, it really works.

sipa can you do it with the full boxes as well? I haven't had to feed any of those as yet but if it's needed how do you normally do it? My plan was to use an empty super as an eke or use a traditional cover board with a shallow wooden eke. The idea of an empty super on top of a broodbox through winter will probably give a lot of beekeepers a heartattack.

Roola said:

so you don't find it squishes bees underneath when you put a 2kg block of fondant on or the feeder?

Click to expand...

I put the cover board on top of the eke, the fondant goes directly over the frames. Most I've had to give was a pound so far - no bees killed that I know of.