Anyone have success with CEDAR Hives

I don't use aromatic cedar, but I do use Western Red Cedar for all of my Warre and top bar hives and it is fantastic. It is resiliant, easy to work with and light. It can be prone to cracking when assembling it dry, but other than that it's fantastic wood that I highly recommend.

As in the numerous other threads regarding cedar on this forum, my bees have had no issues with cedar.

Matt

>has anyone ever kept bees in all cedar hives?

Yes.

> if yes, i would love to hear about it.

Expensive if you're buying it (I wasn't). Works fine. Lasts well. Splits a bit easier than pine, it seems.

> does the aromatic wood have any effect on the mites?

None. Nor does it have any effect on the wax moths, as you might think it would. I don't buy cedar for hives as it's too expensive, but if it's free it works fine. But not significantly better than pine.

I have used all eastern red cedar bottom boards for years now, they seem to last for years. In our area we use eastern red cedar for moth control in clothes closets and cedar chests. The wood does last but the bees will cover over the cedar smell in about 2 weeks.

I agree for bottoms and lids, cedar is worth the cost, because they rot out quicker.

Thankfully, living up here in the Pacific Northwest, we have a great supply of cedar, and the guy I have milling it for me (http://www.treecyclenw.com) is getting his lumber from arborists who would otherwise have it turned into firewood or mulch. I'm glad to pay a little bit more for it.

Matt

Cedar Bottom boards and cedar for the frame of the outer lid is all I have experience with. I do not place these bottoms on the ground, I put 2 railroad ties on the ground and sit the bottom board on across the top of these, the bottoms are 8" off the ground. I have bottom boards that are 20 years old, I see no signs of deteriation. But like I said in my previous post the bees mask the cedar smell, only I know they are cedar.

I use eastern red ceader for everything no problems works great.

One year ago I installed cedar hive bodies just for 9 hives to avoid any paint in a brood area.
For now everything looks good.

More details are coming soon here:
http://www.beebehavior.com/cedar_hives.php

Boris

I use eastern cedar, sometimes called white cedar, i use it in the medium supers, , I also use cedar shavings/sawdust in the smoker, and if you close your eyes and smell the honey, you can actually smell the cedar, I plan to market it as a specialty honey, next fall, perhaps call it cedar honey or cedar scented.....?? go ahead, use the cedar, thanks

All of our hive bodies are usually made of cedar here and its said to last 50 years plus untreated.

What is the usual wood for hives in the US?