Cypress Slatted Rack Finish.

[Dearth Vader]

My Rossman order arrived today. I got 6 slatted racks for 10 frame hives and a bunch of NUC boxes & parts. The packers at Rossman know their stuff. 2 *50 pound packages with parts packed so there was zero wasted space. Evidently it's illegal to send any air in the box :rolleyes: After sorting things out and assembling most of the goodies...I need (want) to apply a finish. I plan on using boiled linseed oil cut ~10% with thinner that I've dissolved beeswax in.
Should I apply the oil to the slats too, or just the exterior? Along the same lines, what about the interior parts...inner cover, hive bodies, etc.
Thanks.
Dearth

[GRIMBEE]

What are the slatted racks for?:confused:

[Dearth Vader]

What are the slatted racks for?:confused:

They will equalize air distribution into the hive from air coming into the entrance of the hive (If you run a bottom entrance). I don't know if they will keep my colonies alive through winter, but the principle is sound. I do HVAC for a living.

Dearth

[Michael Bush]

I would use nothing where the rack is inside the hive. You can paint the outside of the "walls" if you want or not.

[Ross]

Linseed oil contains heavy metals. Not what I want my bees on. The bees will coat them soon enough. As Michael said, paint the outside wall if you want, but it is cypress after all.

[GRIMBEE]

Will a screened bottom board still work with slatted racks in place?:confused:

[thesurveyor]

I do not see a reason why it would not work with a sbb.

[Michael Bush]

They work fine on a SBB. The Betterbee version has the slats running parallel to the frames so it will work better with the SBB and come in 9 and 10 frame versions so the slats will line up under the frames.

[Aisha]

What are the slatted racks for?:confused:

Last summer my bees stopped bearding outside the hive after I added a slatted rack.

[Ross]

Propping the top will do the same thing and it's cheaper.