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Hello everyone!
I'm just getting started in beekeeping and was wondering what is the best wood for making hive boxes. I am a woodworker, and I can get white pine, yellow pine, and cypress at my local lumber yard, although the cypress is about twice the cost of the white pine.
Are there any woods that are better suited for the hive boxes or can you use whatever is available?
Thanks in advance for your help.
The cheapest is the best, at least for me. They like the pine just fine.
I make mine out of what's available at the time..I pick up spare lumber all the time laying around worksites...pine/spruce are the cheapest. But If money was no object, I'd probably go with cypress or cedar since they tend to stand the weather better. But you can paint the pine/spruce boxes and they'll last longer.
Cypress is cedar. and lasts for ever. use that. buy cheap pay twice.
Quote:
Originally Posted by honeydreams
:scratch:
I don't know about using that cheap pine - it might only last...say about....40 years if taken care of. By then I'll need my own pine box :eek:
Cypress is NOT cedar. We use grade 2 or 3 white pine, two coats quality latex paint. Last for years.
If cost is no object, Teak. Teak's natural oils make it useful in exposed locations, and also termite and pest resistant. Teak is durable even when not treated with oil or varnish.
we have an old house on our place that partially burned years ago. the outside is lap siding. western cedar I believe is the wood. It's 11 inches or so wide, but only 5/8 thick, not the 3/4 most will use for supers. but it makes some sweet Top Bar Hives! I need to go tear more off asap
I use ¾ plywood, some have been in continuous use for nine years except for needing a new paint job are still solid. The only drawback a deep super is three pounds heavier. I can get six deeps and three mediums from a 4X8 sheet. Last cost at my local lowes $16.95
I don't have a cedar super yet, but was wondering if the cedar would help with the wax moths, since it does with the other kinds of moths?
I know cedar doesn't bother bees because I have a guy wanting me to get some out of a huge cedar in his front yard.
anyone know?
Tom, I second cheap pine. Boxes are easy. I keep an eye on craigslist. Every now and then I get free or cheap pine boards, and then in the winter when the bees can't be worked I make boxes. You can even join boards together to make the deeps if there is no 1 by 12 to be had. Adrian.
and buy cheap paint i dont mean cheap quialty just mistented paint that people didnt like after it was mixed. you can get it real cheap at wal mart,lowes,and home depot . the bees dont care what color it is so get creative
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CedarQuote:
Originally Posted by peacekeeperapiaries
please read. also Cyprus cedar - Cedrus brevifolia (or C. libani subsp. brevifolia) so yes Cypress wood is cedar.
a cedar tree is in the cypress family, but z cedar and cypress are 2 distinct different trees and 2 distinct different types of wood....
Don't use Cypress I started with some Cypress and Pine . Painted them both with the same paint and put on three coats. Both sat in the garage for a few weeks. Then the wife was getting tired of seeing them so she suggested to set them up out side. I set them up the same way next to each other on stands. The ones I purchased made of Cypress from Rossmans warped big time. The ones my friend made out of good ol pine are straight as a arrowl. Even the two telescoping covers I purchased warped and leaked after the first rain storm.
So save your money and buy pine and put some good paint on them and take care of them they will be fine.
Oh by the way Rossmans has not responded to any of my letters or phone calls about there supers. Maybe they are to busy.:no:
White oak will last forever. Or at least as long as you or I.
Well Brooklyn you might be right. I have white pine, Hemlock, Dug Fir, Western redwood, and cypruss. I only painted one of my hives and it looks the worst for wear.
Has anyone ever tried Sassafras? It is light, durable, and has a decent weather rot resistance. I have quite a few sassafras tree's on my property and have thought about. I agree with most on the sight that just about any wood would work. I think weight definetly should play into the decision and then rot resistance. I have also wondered about Beech. Both these specicies have a tendecy to grow hollow in nature and wonder if they may be a more natural habitat.
I use all eastern red cedar, but no it don't help with mites, wax moths or shb.Quote:
Originally Posted by duck_nutt