[TurtleSpider]

I have never had a poly hive, but I like the sound of their insulating abilities.

I have my hives in the chicken run. I know that my chickens eat polystyrene whenever they get a chance. Will they damage a poly hive unless it is protected from them? I think it is high density and you need to paint them if that makes a difference?

 

[JConnolly]

Chickens peck. It's what they do.

 

[HeadofMeadow]

We have bees and chickens. We have mostly wood equipment but some Polly nucs. The unused nucs are normally stored below the hive stand (basically on the ground). I haven’t had problems with the chickens who free range and enter the bee enclosure often. I do use a variety of insulation in the chicken coop and they have gone after that so maybe it’s only because they always have access.

 

[Akademee]

Interesting, you might want to put up a small fence or something to keep them out.

 

[RedAceBees]

I glued some fiberglass reinforced paneling ($30 at Home Depot for 8'x4' sheets) over the outside of my styro cell incubator for durability but that still doesn't help on the inside. Under heavy use, we get maybe 5 years out of the Mann Lake styro queen nucs before too many bits are broken off to keep using it (The lids tend to snap if they're propolised down and cold and ants can chew their way into the feeder, making it leak). Personally, unless you're doing something like queen cells where temp control is really important, I prefer wood boxes for my hive bodies.