Woodware Finishing

[ainsof]

We've decided that we'd like to polyurethane our woodware.

I can see doing this to the outside of the hive and supers, but what of the hive interior and frames?

Any recommendations?

[Jim Fischer]

> what of the hive interior and frames?

Do nothing.
Absolutely nothing.
The bees will "shellac" them with propolis for you.
Anything you put on them would be a very bad idea.

[Todd Zeiner]

Polyurethane will not hold up to weather and water outside. You will need to use Spar Urethane or something equivalant.

I agree on the inside. The bees will finish the inside to suit them, no need for any threatment there.

[Michael Bush]

Always leave the inside alone. smile.gif

[FordGuy]

the prevailing notion here and elsewhere is leave the inside alone, and there is something nice about the way the different woods smell when combined with propolis, honey, wax.

As for the outside, I think you'd need some form of marine grade polyurethane which if you look at the cost, you may as well get hive bodies made of cyprus or something that won't rot. I'd just use a paint of your favorite color.

I use an earthtone so as not to draw attention.

[ February 14, 2006, 11:11 PM: Message edited by: FordGuy ]

[Robert Hawkins]

Won't that hold in the summer temps?

Hawk

[Mabe]

I've finally found a product that seems to hold up as advertised, which is rare. Maybe this will be helpful.

When I lived on Colorado at 7,500 ft elevation I had to stain my decks yearly, so experimented with a lot of wood sealers (most everything on the market). Even the most expensive were unsatisfactory and broke down quickly with water and sun exposure. Now that I'm in Wisconsin I've finally found one that has held up for 4 years so far on the decks despite heavy moisture, snowcover and sun. I am going to restain all of my woodenware with it this year. The brand I used is a Sherwin Williams product called "Cuprinol". I used a semi transparent grey/tan on the decks and think that color should be fine on the hives. Just my 2 cents...

[HarryVanderpool]

One exception to the "Don't paint the interior" rule, would be the bottom boards in my opinion.
Seal them up tight with a good paint and they'll last much longer and clean up easier.
2Rubes dips theirs which is perfect.

:cool:

[Dave W]

Semi-transparent "Cuprinol" last 8 to 10 years on rough-cut cedar houses. Havent used it on hives smile.gif
Cuprinol use to have (havent used in 15 yrs) wood preservatives in it, will the chemicals harm bees?

When painting my hive, I looked for a paint "approved for food contact".

Painting super's frame rest area helps for a while smile.gif

[ February 15, 2006, 10:24 AM: Message edited by: Dave W ]

[ainsof]

Hi Folks,

Thanks!

Yeah, we're looking at cypress supers and such. My wife (she's the gen. contractor of the family) was talking about using a marine urethane.

For our deck, she swears by a product made by Baer, though the name escapes me.

To harvest propolis, would we just scrape it off the interior of the supers over winter or something?

[Michael Bush]

If you want a lot of propolis, then buy a propolis trap or make one out of a piece of nylon screen door screen. You put it on the top with some light leaking in and the bees propolize it. Then you roll it up and put it in the freezer. When you remove the frozen trap and unroll it the propolis flys off (best done in a bag of some sort).

This will get you MORE propolis and CLEANER propolis than hive scrapings.