cypress hive bodies

[jeannie]

Is there any real reason to paint cypress hives? I will have screen bottom boards on them and ventilation inner covers (I'm thinking about trying those, as anyone else used them?)on them.

[tecumseh]

new growth cypress is not the same as old growth cypress. cypress.. 'the wood everlasting' in it's current day form is NOT. matter of fact it will rot much quicker than southern yellow pine. the texture of cypress is however so beautiful that I would never hide that with paint. a good wood sealer like thompsons or sanborne would be my choice.

[jeannie]

I have ordered hives from rossmans, there cypress, so I'm not sure about new or old. But I like the wood sealer idea. thanks

[beemandan]

Hi Jeannie,
I'll agree, in part, with tecumseh. New growth cypress isn't the same as old growth. I'm not so sure I'll agree that it'll rot much quicker than southern yellow pine. There's a reason that many of the suppliers sell cypress bottom boards, at the same time selling pine boxes.
Did you get your hives from the Rossmans? They're plenty durable. I paint mine but I know some folks who don't and claim they hold up just as well.
I'm sure that someone who has gone without paint will add their 2cents worth here.
Did you decide what you're going to do for bees yet?

[jeannie]

Hello,
Yes I have decided to get mine from fatmanbee. It's not but 2.5 hrs from home and I can drive. Also I'm going to take his class. I was just trying to save a little time by not painting since I work nights and long hours. I think it will look good in my bee yard. We live on a small mountian or larger hill with lots of trees. kinda of a la naturale.

[beemandan]

I believe that you said you lived near Rome. I've been there many times. It is beautiful country and should be great for bees. If fatbeeman doesn't work, out another source might be Cindy Bee. I can't believe that I didn't think of her earlier. She's near Marietta. She does bee removals for a living and often, by late spring, has more feral bee colonies than she knows what to do with.
Again, good luck.

[Aspera]

I have some of the Rossman's stuff that is now five years old. It has been now twice stained (two coats at assembly, two coats last year). It seems less likely to rot than yellow or whit pine. This is balenced out by the fact that it is heavier, not very well grained, and more likely to split, crack and warp. I guess I'm just trying to say that the cypress is different, but not much better/worse than high quality pine. As for the staining, I think that it looks attractive and that it gives my hives a little bit of solar gain (which can be good in the winter).

[Cyndi]

That's interesting....my name is Cyndi and I grew up in Marietta, Georgia during my childhood and some of my adult life. Recently started calling my operation Cyndisbees...I'm even building a website with that name....Oh my goodness, did I miss something here?? :D

Okay, so what that I moved further North and North and North to N.Carolina...my roots are in Marietta, Ga..Wow!

I'd be really interested in meeting this Cindy Bee, how do you contact her? She's probably a fellow classmate..there were quite a few Cindy's around Marietta.

[beemandan]

Hi Cyndi,
I don't think Cindy Bee is originally from Marietta. If you want to get in touch with her, I'm sure you can get her number from an online phone directory. There aren't too many Cindy Bee's in the state. If you can't find it let me know and I'll look it up.
I, too, spent much of my life in the Marietta area and understand its attraction.

[Jeffzhear]

Does anyone know of anyone selling cypress hive boxes, lids, etc. in the North East? It just costs me too much to have them shipped from the south.

[Cyndi]

Thanks Dan

I'll have to look her up. My sister lives in Bogart BTW, :D

[flathead]

What tecumseh said.

[Michael Palmer]

I suppose that Cypress lasts longer than white pine, which is waht I use. But, cost has to be taken into account.

Here in the Northeast, there are several lumber mills that produce white pine, kiln dried boards. When cutting their boards to length, there will often be an imperfection near one end or another...a knot, a crack, or a crooked edge...even a stain. The mill cuts off either a 2' piece, or a 4' piece. These "shorts" are bundled together on pallets, some mills sorting by width. This lumber is perfect for making beehives. The pieces are short, so easy to handle. They're also cheap. I can make bee boxes for about $1. After finding a good source for cheap wood, I decided to upgrade my equipment...quite a task with 800 colonies. In the past several years, I have rebuilt all my outer covers...saving and reusing the metal tops. No more floppy covers. I have also been replacing supers, hive bodies, and bottoms. I figure it will take about two more years to have all the junk woodenware out of my operation. I'm nearing retirement faster than I would like to say, and when I do, my equipment will be worth something. Living on depretiation is a bad plan.

[JWG]

Some years ago Jon Ryan in central NY was building a ton of equipment -- boxes and nucs -- out of poplar, which evidently was available at a good price locally. It looked very similar to pine, but with a greenish tinge. Anyone tried this? I wonder how the material holds up over time. As I recall he was hot dipping the equipment in rosin & paraffin.

I have ordered some cypress hive bodies for this year from Rossman (in GA) for comparison's sake but haven't received them yet. I once had few cypress hives and they held up wellm although there was a bit of warping on the lap joints. The wood on those seemed quite dense compared to pine.

[Aspera]

Poplar rots very easily but is the fastest growing and lightest of all American trees that I can think of. I haven't tried it, but I'm thinking that it would need parafin treatment or it wouldn't last five years. On the bright side, its very straight grained, economical and usually comes from renewably cultivated forests.

[Tillie]

Cindy Bee's contact information is on the Metro Atlanta Beekeeper's website:
http://www.metroatlantabeekeepers.org/productsservices.htm

She's very sweet and eager to share her great knowledge of the bees as well as a resource for many bee items. She's a Master Beekeeper in Georgia.

Linda T

[greengecko]

Anyone using southern yellow pine, white oak or cedar?

[BoBn]

Some years ago Jon Ryan in central NY was building a ton of equipment -- boxes and nucs -- out of poplar, which evidently was available at a good price locally. It looked very similar to pine, but with a greenish tinge. Anyone tried this? I wonder how the material holds up over time. As I recall he was hot dipping the equipment in rosin & paraffin.


It was probably Tulip Poplar.
Tulip popular is in the Magnolia family. Popular is in the Willow family.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tulip_poplar
The wood I have seen usually has a greenish color wood. It is nice wood to work with and is probably is just as good as white pine except a little bit heavier.