6-frame Langstroth Nuc P-hive®

01 · WHAT 38 MM OF POLYSTYRENE MEAN

The maker compares them to 15 cm of wood

The polystyrene is high density, 80 kg/m³, 38 mm thick on the long sides and 47 mm on the short ones. The maker equates that insulation to around 15 centimetres of wood, and the comparison holds up against the conductivities of the two materials.

In practice it comes out as a steadier inside temperature through the day-to-night swings, which is exactly what a newly made colony cannot compensate for on its own.

02 · TWO AND A HALF KILOS

Against the fifteen of a wooden one

An empty wooden nuc is around 15 kg; this one weighs 2.5. The difference shows on every move, on every round of splits and on every van that has to be loaded twice.

It arrives assembled and ready to use, everything aligned from the factory. It takes 6 Langstroth frames of 482 × 232 mm and measures about 55 × 31 cm by 34 high.

03 · THE SCREENED FLOOR IS FOR COUNTING

It ventilates, and it lets you measure the natural drop

It has a screened floor with a mesh and a tray. The mesh ventilates, and the tray lets you count the natural mite drop over a known number of days, which is the reading that decides whether to treat and when.

Worth being exact: the floor measures the drop, it does not reduce it. Treatment is a different matter and is decided from the data sheet of whichever product applies.

04 · POLYSTYRENE: THE GOOD AND THE ASKS

Paint it light, and keep the smoker away

The material is recyclable and stands the weather, but sunlight degrades it: the maker recommends painting it with light-coloured water-based paints, which also reflect and keep the box from overheating in summer.

And one precaution that is not in the maker's sheet and is worth keeping in mind: polystyrene deforms with direct heat. A lit smoker does not go on top of it and does not go near the wall.

05 · BEFORE YOU BUY

A plastic nuc has advantages and also habits.