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Nuplas Bee Hives

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BrianP_69:
I did a search but came up a bit empty.
Is there anyone on here using Nuplas bee hives.
Cheers

damienpryan:
I only use plastic hives.
I have used 1 of the nuplas to try.

The following is just my opinion and I am a hobby beekeeper but here my quick rundown of my comparison between nuplas and hassons:

Nuplas:
cheaper
base has double entrance with built in entrance closers.
can get vented bottom board.
boxes need to be built (Screwed together). 
boxes can slip apart easily.
lighter but a bit flimsy. 
clips can be fiddly.

Hasson:
more expensive than nuplas.
come already made in 1 molded piece.
heavier but solid.
won't slip.
when clipped the whole hive is solid and reliably beeproof when entrance blocked (Great if you need to move hives inside a car!).

(I prefer the Hasson hives and have standardized on them).

Cheers

Damien

max2:
Interesting. I have never used any of the plastic supers, lids or bottoms. They have an interesting website with a new frames idea.
My commercial bee keeping friends have tried the Nuplas hives and were not happy with them. They tell me that they distorted, were easily damaged with a hive tool - not up to the rigours of commercial bee keeping.
I'm all wood and I'm happy with it.
Plastic - Life 15+years and then? landfill...
I'm surprised that we had no comments from somebody who has used the system for a while.

BrianP_69:
Thanks guys for the replies.
I'm not 100% sold on them either compared to timber. There's some things I love about them but there's some things I don't like.

Pros
No painting
30yr guarantee
Super easy to assemble with supplied screws
I love the lid
Love the vented bottom board
Bees are going gangbusters

Cons
Double the price of timber
Boxes can warp slightly resulting in boxes not being flush when placed on top of each other. Not a drama, the bees don't care but slightly annoying to me. ( OCD )

I refuse to use plastic frames, I'm using wood & wax foundation.
There's a lot more maintenance, preparation with timber but the boxes sit flush, super solid & inexpensive.
I'm using migratory lids & trying to find a reputable source for those as well as vented bottom timber boards if anyone has some tips.
Cheers

Russ:
In my second year with thirty hives now. 18 wood and 12 nuplas and 6 Hasson.
The wooden hives are mainly second hand original 8 frame boxes about 30-50 years old. I dipped them in boiling lye and then hypochlorite for 20 minutes and repainted. Perfect boxes but lids and bases shabby.
Hasson's have quality boxes but I suspect the plastic lid and bases don't suit the sub tropics, they sweat a lot and mine constantly have a mould problem often with water dripping from the entrance. Hive beetles love them.
Nuplas is a longer story. I bought 30 hives but only assembled and use 12, the rest I left in the cartoons.   I don't know if it was just my order, but every vented base was distorted in a way that it appeared sagged length ways when I got them. The boxes are all bowed out at the top and all corners are deformed and raised a few mm. The joints are poor with big gaps in every box corner. the screws were too small. and weirdly fitting corner joints. When assembled as delivered, the bee can walk out through the gap between the box and the base, including the Queens which have drowned in the oil tray under the vented base. These hive sweat like Hassons, but hasson don't leak like my Nuplas hives. After Nuplas recommended to sand all the matching surfaces the gaps are closed a lot but so much sanding has left the plastic thin. A lot of work. Hassons have the best box, but with there freight cost, they are too expensive for me. After a year in the sun the top edge of all Nuplas boxes have bowed out and water can run in between the lid and top box and between all boxes and also box and base. I am in northern NSW and found the ventilation holes in the lids were not adequate. After a recommendation from a Beemaster member whom has a Nuplas hive, I modified the lids. I purchased quality insulation board from Bunnings and sealed it in the lid with tin sheet. I then added a wooded 50mmX50mm skirt edging with 8 x 25 mm air holes. I used alfoil to block 6 during winter. These modified lids are the best. There no longer any condensation or water leaking in from the top and when I tested the winter temperatures, I found them much better with this modification. I now only buy Nuplas lids to modify and use on all hives. I am now making wooded boxes and my own bases ready to split to 50 hives by January.

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