Why not plywood for hives?

[sqkcrk]

Originally Posted by ccar2000

Is there an issue with using 3/4" plywood to make supers and hive bodies? I was thinking about using multi-layer cabinet or marine grade plywood. Has anyone has either sucesses or failures?

No problem if you don't mind not being able to sell the stuff if you want to leave beekeeping. No problem if you don't mind delamination, or splinters. Just some thoughts.

[Brent Bean]

I have been using plywood since I started beekeeping eight years ago. So far I haven’t had to retire any boxes because of weathering. Some have been in continues use, we get all kinds of weather conditions. They are three pounds heaver than pine, for deeps. I haven’t had any problems lifting them for those that do perhaps a weight program to build up the biceps. I can get six deeps and three mediums from a 4X8 sheet of plywood. Cost under 25 bucks.

[d.asly]

Works great. and is cheap!
I dont bother painting, except for the corners.
And the corners are plain jane - no rabbets, no box joints, nothing fancy.
But i use a box jig to get the corners square and for faster nailing. and glue.
The boxes come out just a little heavier, but i figure the increase is negligible when the weight of the box full of brood or honey is taken into account. i use mediums - deeps are just too heavy for me (even if the boxes were made of styrofoam).

[Maine_Beekeeper]

My four plywood nuc boxes have all delaminated now after 3 years and have huge gaps in the tops where other insects want to live.
I haven't burned them yet but I don't plan to deploy either - at this point they are relegated to holding frames in the bee shed.

real wood is so much better.
Pine isn't all that expensive.

[sjbees]

Only a few of my hives are painted, and they were done before realizing that paint is helpful but insufficient for successful weathering, especially with ply.

Beekeepers and delamination should be an oxymoron, we all have access to the finest waterproofing around: beeswax. Buy a gallon of turpentine (the real stuff distilled from trees, not the mineral turps from coal), heat turpentine in a crockpot and add beeswax until you get 25-50% of the volume. Higher wax content is fine when applying warm from the crockpot, but not when cold. The more wax, the more waterproofing but the stiffer it is to apply cold, and it is not as effective on end grain because it is not absorbed as well.

Turpentine is the penetrant, carrying wax into the pores of the wood/plywood/exposed surface. Brush or roll on boxes, lids etc and pay special attention to the exposed grain/plywood edges. Works better on a hot day when the wood is warm as you get deeper penetration. Keep treating endgrain until no more is absorbed (if it needs more than three swipes use more wax in the mixture). This is nowhere near as effective as dipping in heated wax, but it is simpler.

Long boxes are easy to make with ply, and as they are not portable anyway the weight is a non-issue. Although I had good intentions of re-applying every 5 years have been derelict in doing so and the oldest boxes are 10 years old and still no problems. Lids, bottom boards etc made out of ply for use w/Langs are given the same treatment, and never had a problem of delamination.

When cold the mixture is creamy, so it takes lots of wrist work to spread it over the surface. Turpentine evaporates, so if the mixture gets too stiff, add some turps to blend it out. If I have a lot to do at one time, the mixture is reheated in the crockpot to become liquid, and it flows like paint. In cool weather the surface can stay 'waxy' for weeks but in summer the heat draws the wax deeper into the wood in a few days.

For the same time investment as painting, you can waterproof just about everything you use in the bee yard. I've never tried painting any boxes soon after treating them, but some hives to be sold were painted to make them look spiffy and get a better price. No issues with latex adhering to the surface, and exposed end grain at the corners did not have that spotty appearance.

[raosmun]

Good read!!
I noticed you mentioned dipping in hot wax. Bees wax, some other wax or the turp. mix. How hot and for how long to dip? How long to age before using?
TKS

[SgtMaj]

Originally Posted by ccar2000

Is there an issue with using 3/4" plywood to make supers and hive bodies? I was thinking about using multi-layer cabinet or marine grade plywood. Has anyone has either sucesses or failures?

I had a lot of marine grade plywood left over after a transom repair 2 years back that I used to make some telescopic covers, and even a bottom board with. I thought they'd warp really fast, but at the time I was getting swarm calls and had no hives ready to put them in, so I was just throwing together what I could. They've actually held up much better than I expected, but I'm sure it's still just a matter of time before they do warp, and there's no way they'll last as long as dimensional lumber. Plus, it's much much heavier than pine, so if you do make boxes out of them they'll be heavier than normal boxes which might not make a difference to you with shallow supers, but if you're making 10 frame deeps, you might regret the extra 5 or 6 pounds that it'd add to the weight.

So if you're not getting the wood for free, or are super-desperate to throw a hive together in an hour and that's all you've got, I would not recommend it.

[EastSideBuzz]

All my boxes have ply top and bottoms. I use 5/8 to 3/4 standard ply to build my tops and bottoms and paint them. I live in Washington with more rain then most of you have and it is not an issue. OOPS paint works just fine.