mixing hive components

[ratcatcher]

hi all,

has anyone here used the poly national floor and or lid along with wooden national or commercial boxes

as now I have hives at home and also our woodland, I can see the sense in having a few tops and bottoms spare, for swarms and splits etc,
now to buy from the main suppliers, I'd be looking at around £70 per top/bottom
e-bay in softwood gets them in at around £45
but noticed yesterday the poly base/tops, and if I ordered a few of each, the saving would be quite good, but as my question, are they any good? do they fit ok?
any pro's or con's to them

failing that is looking for secondhand stuff

 

[Finman]

.
You can mix what ever if you take care that bees will not squeezed between parts and rainwater will not go inside the hive. You may use adapting disk between parts to handle the problems.

 

[ratcatcher]

cheers finman, but was hoping to find someone that had actually used the poly top/bottom to check its quality

 

[oliver90owner]

Roofs might be different but floors are 'cheap as chips' to knock up if you have a table saw. Better still if a router and finishing kit are avalailable to use.

Squares of mesh cut to size from 'the mesh company'.

Four pieces of timber for below the mesh, one leaving space for an inspection board and the other two or three grooved for the board. Three pieces above the mesh at entrance depth. They can form an overlap joint at the corners for at least some extra rigidity. All drilled, countersunk and screwed together. For a more unique (more identifiable) product, the battens holding the mesh could be a few mm thicker (consider space between frames and mesh - top bee space permits a bit more) and a front batten could be added with a bee-sized entrance slot and less than full width. Think here of saving the cost of mouse guards! And offering using an old bottom frame bar for reducing the entrance, if necessary.

Drilled and countersunk to avoid splitting, and screwed for better connection than most nails. Ring nails might be good enough but screws actually pull parts together. Screws into end grain should be 'on the tosh'. They can always be glued if required.

The inspection boards need to be decided before hand, to determine the slot and clearance for any anticipated change in dimensions while in use. Surface coat and job done.

If you want to get really clever, the inspection board could have battens attached to fit nicely, and fill the necessary clearance for removal of the board without scraping off the detritus collected.

RAB

 

[Finman]

cheers finman, but was hoping to find someone that had actually used the poly top/bottom to check its quality

I bought poly bottoms 1987

 

[Erichalfbee]

I have modified cedar National floors under my two Paynes hives and wooden supers mixed in. Works OK

 

[oliver90owner]

I only use poly bottoms with part OMF.

Mesh is not a large percentage for the nucs and I woud not buy another poly floor for a full hive.

I have found no problem over-wintering on 14 x 12 with OMF; deeps might be different (one reason for my change to extra-deeps).

UK winters are much less severe than in Finland. Yes, there will be slightly less loss of radiated energy if using a solid floor but the gain, by not needing top ventilation (there is a risk of condensation if no ventilation is used with solid floors in the damp UK winters), likely more than balances that. I leave a 3mm gap below the brood box if I have to use one of old solid floors.

RAB

 

[itma]

hi all,

has anyone here used the poly national floor and or lid along with wooden national or commercial boxes

...

Different manufacturers - very different products.

Which did you mean by "the" ?

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

Roofs might be different but floors are 'cheap as chips' to knock up if you have a table saw. Better still if a router and finishing kit are avalailable to use.

You could even try the under floor entrance OMF - no need for entrance reducers or mouse guard then