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 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.