best woods for hives?

[bluegrass]

I am interested in what other people are using to make their hive bodies? What would you not use? I like SYP, but also have Fir, White pine, and Popular available in this area! I would use Hemlock, but can't get it around here.

[Michael Bush]

Best is anything that's free. smile.gif

White pine is priced good and works well. Yellow pine is heavier but lasts a bit better. I'd go for the cheapest. smile.gif

[Michael Palmer]

>I would use Hemlock, but can't get it around here.

I wouldn't use Hemlock. It splits and checks too much. We can get Hemlock here in Vermont, and many barns are built with rough cut hemlock. It is always used green, because when it is dry, it easily split and cracked when nailed.

[peggjam]

I used hemlock once.....I went to take off a super, half the super remained on the hive, dispite the fact I loosened it before picking it up.....won't use it again. I make my boxes out of pine. Best wood, at the best price.

[Brent Bean]

I use ¾ plywood, the only disadvantage is there a little heaver. I have had some in use for years and are still in great shape. I can make nine deeps and two medium supers out of two 4X8 sheet.

[tecumseh]

how do you define best?

for me recycled works just fine. at this point in time mainly yellow pine: a bit heavy, not the easiest wood to work but the right price.

[fat/beeman]

since I had own sawmill=woodmizer I cut anything that was given to me. black walnut hive bodys to curly maple red oak white pine
but I can say white pine works lot better on the saw blades. red oak bit heavy but I don't move boxes so thats not a issue.
I have painted them with all the colors of the rain bow. all free paint or traded honey for.
I perfer plywood for my bottoms and lids as cracks in wood is a place for wax mothes to hide as well as SHB's
I have in yrs back used plywood for supers but it falls apart to quick for the amount of work you put in it.
Don

[bluegrass]

"I wouldn't use Hemlock. It splits and checks too much. We can get Hemlock here in Vermont"

I know you can get it in Vermont, I am a transplant from Wheelock. I havent ever had any of the problems with hemlock that you describe, but there has to be a first time for everything and I will be sure to keep it in the back of my mind for the future. SYP is nice and cheap in this area at .82 a running ft for 1x12 so that is what I am working with.

[Michael Palmer]

> SYP is nice and cheap in this area at .82 a running ft for 1x12 so that is what I am working with.

In New hampshire, I found a mill that sells White Pine shorts 1x12 for $.20 a running foot...or board foot, if you will. Shorts are either 2' or 4' long.

[George Fergusson]

>I used hemlock once.....

Hemlock can be subject to shake (the official term for the cracks that caused your box to come apart) but it's a hard, dense wood and should make good boxes. I had some milled out last spring and I'm going to build a couple of boxes out of it this winter and see how it does. Also have some poplar I'm going to try.

Hard to beat white pine though.

[Fusion_power]

Old growth cypress is arguably the best wood for bee equipment. Its light weight, extremely rot tolerant, and easily machined. Second growth cypress on the other hand is very susceptible to rot.

Darrel Jones

[bluegrass]

I don't like working with white Pine as it costs more than Southern yellow around here and doesn't hold up as well. I know that in Vermont or New Hampshire SYP is hard to find in anything other than 5/4 stair treads and very expensive. LaValley's in Rutland (as well in W.leb. and Newport NH.) sells it, but a few years ago it was over 3.00 a running ft. I would like to use cypress or cedar, but cost is an issue with both of them. I can build my hive boxes for $5.33 each out of SYP. which is not free, but also not bad. I think I could do better at a mill, but I don't want to work with rough sawn lumber.

I am interested in the poplar boxes, it is an easy wood to work, but becomes hard with age and I would like to know how well it holds up.

I use the term running foot as not everybody understands linear ft. from board ft.
A board ft. is 12"x12"x1" square and a linear (running)ft. can be anything cut in ft lengths. ie. 1x4 cut to 4 ft is 4 linear ft. of 1x4. But 1x4 cut to 4 ft. is only 1.3 board feet of wood.

[ January 08, 2007, 06:35 AM: Message edited by: bluegrass ]

[flathead]

Just started making boxes and looking to make quite a few.

1X12 8' #2 white pine at local Home Depot is $12.45. Ouch! It is light(er) in mass but doesn't seem to split as bad as SYP when driving screws. I would chose SYP over the white pine if similar price.

I bought a unit(minimum order) of #2 SYP at a local mill for $650. 128 boards 8' and should get at least that many deeps figuring a few cull boards. About five bucks a piece.

I am about half way through the stack and very happy so far. The boxes are heavy.

Might try a unit of #3s next time as it is a good bit cheaper. Cull boards can be ripped for cleats, top edges and BB rims etc.

A local got a hold of some old cypress boxes(2000)+ we think were from Kelly outfit before they moved north. they had been stored on a large estate near here in an old barn. Not sure of age but probably >50 years old. All were in various states of disrepair and some needed tightening up at the corners. I saw them and they will do for quite a while longer. While they had been in storage for a long time, it is clear they saw much duty in their time but still solid.

As some have commented already, the production cypress avaliable today is not the same as the old heart cypress. I would not pay more for the new growth cypress and if found it cheaper would still paint.

[bluegrass]

Flathead
Is the stuff you are using from the mill planed down? If so the price sounds good. I would be careful with your knots though; as the wood drys they may loosen and become extra enterances in the hive body.

[flathead]

Bluegrass,

My #2 boards are milled to 3/4" x 11-1/4, todays standard and kiln dryed. There are some knots but many times I can cut around them by making some nuc ends or other.
I don't spend a lot of time worring about it though.

Its from Seago Lumber in McComb Miss.

[bluegrass]

STANDARD LUMBER AND KILN DRY!!! that is a sweet deal!