Building a Poly Hive (Oct 2022)

Building my first poly hive in October 2022. (Video edited and uploaded in November 2023.)

#MudSongsPolyHive

I'm still testing out the poly hive (as of November 2023), though from everything I know about them outside of my own experience, poly hives should be a perfect fit for the Newfoundland climate. They've been used for decades in other cold climates around the world but haven't yet been noticed by many Newfoundland beekeepers for some reason.

I predict, however, that once some commercial beekeepers in Newfoundland who have a lot more money than me catch onto it, poly hives will become more common in Newfoundland.

I've heard arguments that the production of poly hives adds too many pollutants to the natural environment. I'd argue that burning gas in a F-150 pick-up truck for a week creates more pollution than the production of a poly hive. Polystyrene, while clearly not renewable like wood, is 100% recyclable and, when reused (not burned), can be of use as insulation for more than a century.

I've also heard arguments that poly hives aren't natural, but how natural is it to keep non-native honey bees on an island in the middle of the North Atlantic Ocean where they never evolved to live? Whether using poly hives or wooden hives, I'm not sure the "natural" argument holds much water in Newfoundland. Beekeeping can open a door to a gratifying awareness of nature, but beekeeping any place where honey bees are not indigenous to the local ecosystem, whether with poly hives or wooden hives, isn't exactly natural.

Poly hives seem to provide exceptional hive conditions for honey bees in cold climates all year round with much less maintenance than wooden hives, potentially resulting in healthier springtime colonies than are found in most wooden hives currently used on the island of Newfoundland.

It’s still early days and I’m not about to jump on some poly hive bandwagon just yet, but that doesn't seem so bad to me.

00:00 - Underneath the hive.
02:00 - Inside the hive.
03:00 - Outside the hive.
03:45 - Adding 4th medium super.
05:05 - Adding last frame.
05:35 - Complete hive.
07:30 - Photos.

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#beekeeping in #newfoundland #polyhives